Why Can't We Be Friends?
by Sekana Katayama
Summary: A young nightelf just trying to get through life as a typical adventurer is caught up in events quite beyond his control... bloodelf x nightelf yaoi HUMOR
1. Chapter 1

**Why Can't We Be Friends?**

A World of Warcraft fanfiction by Sekana Katayama.

**Notes:** This was something I came up with shortly after the announcement of the Blood Elf race in the expansion pack _Burning Crusade_.

**Warnings:** Contains shounen-ai, otherwise known as yaoi, which is also known as slash. If you don't like it, or don't know what it means, don't read the story.

**Summary: **A young night-elf just trying to get through life as a typical adventurer is caught up in events quite beyond his control… blood-elf x night-elf yaoi

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**Chapter One**

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Felfe walked along the cobbled road that lead to Southshore, eagerly anticipating the nice, soft bed that was waiting for him at the inn. He wasn't really that tired, but anything was better than walking all day just to sign up for the gryphon flight path. As it was, he was beginning to wonder if he could just take a shortcut…

Yes, a shortcut through the woods would definitely get him to town faster. He hesitated, though, looking into the forested area off the path. It was darker over there, and it made him nervous. There had to be bears in there, and probably some mountain lions.

He remembered his last encounter with a mountain lion and shivered, trying to block out the memory of claws raking down his back. Not fun.

'_Come on, be a man. It's just a little forest. You can easily fight off anything in there.' _He told himself, nodding outwardly. He was a night-elf rogue. Nothing could stand in his way.

But then he frowned as he realized he wasn't even in proper equipment. Yes, he had his daggers, but that wasn't the problem. He had figured, before he left in the morning, that he wouldn't be in for any fighting. A good rogue would have been prepared anyway, but…

Leather chafed. A lot. His tunic was scratchy and uncomfortable, and the gloves and bracers always itched. The defias mask was not as breathable as it looked. The shoulder pads made his shoulders sore. The cape often caught on branches and bushes. It all got to be very annoying.

So he had asked himself, why wear all that equipment? He was going to be walking all day, so he might as well be comfortable. He had ended up wearing his bard's pants, boots, and a white linen shirt that he had cut the sleeves off. He had been concerned that the deep maroon color of the pants and boots was clashing horribly with his silver-white hair and pale skin, but there wasn't much of a choice there. He probably looked like a wandering salesman at the moment, but at least he wasn't sweating himself to death.

Unfortunately, that brought him back to the problem. He could cut through the forest in the little armor he had, and hope his stealth would be good enough. Or he could take the road for miles more, looking at the same boring stones as he had the entire morning.

He opted for the shortcut.

Striding into the forest, he quickly stealthed, disappearing almost entirely from view. He crept slowly into the depths of the woods, going in the direction of the town. Hopefully, it wouldn't be very far, but he hadn't really calculated how much longer it would take to stealth.

Everything was going just peachy until he spotted the bear. It was larger than most, with silvery fur and sharp teeth. It sniffed the air as he drew closer.

'_Just my luck. An elder gray bear. I wouldn't even be able to live through that _with _my equipment. Maybe I can just stealth around it…'_

He inched away from the bear, trying to take a route around it, but it was too late. The darn bear had already caught his scent, and it bounded up to him in a very bear-like manner, jaws opening.

Felfe told himself that the frightened squeak was not his, and started to sprint away from the bear. This wasn't going to end well.

'_Why do I have to be so weak?' _He groaned inwardly. Though he was a rogue, he had never really gotten the hang of adventuring. Sometimes he even thought he was _literally _weaker than everyone else. After all, he didn't have a physique to speak of, unlike the other night-elves. And he was about a head shorter than the rest of them. He suspected that was due to the fact that he never ate his vegetables. It wasn't really his fault… those vegetables were strange looking, and he had concluded long ago that they were laden with steroids. Why else would all the male night-elves develop such hardened muscles?

The bear was gaining on him. It probably thought Felfe was its next meal, or something along those lines.

'_Just a little bit farther…' _He felt sprint slowing down as he ran even deeper into the forest. The bear roared at him, and he tried to run faster unsuccessfully. Sprint faded from him. He looked over his shoulder to see the bear slowing.

He ran the last couple feet, and his adversary turned around and left, believing its meal out of reach.

Felfe leaned against a tree, his breath coming back in gasps. Sprint always exhausted him, and the near-death experience hadn't helped either. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting his heart beat slow from its thunderous pace.

He probably should have been more careful. Next time, maybe it would be a mountain lion, and perhaps it wouldn't give up so easily.

'_I'm going to be strong someday.' _He told himself, but he didn't really believe it.

He opened his eyes, standing up to brush invisible dirt off himself, looking around to see if there were any more bears nearby.

That was when he saw it. Or rather, him. A blood-elf stood ten feet away, facing the opposite direction. The first thing Felfe noticed was the long, crimson cape the man was wearing. Then he noticed the shiny chain-mail armor, and the sheathed sword belted to said armor. Wait… was that… the Hungering Cold?

A blood-elf paladin. A very, very high level blood-elf paladin. With shiny armor. And a blade that seemed to have icy mist swirling around it.

The word 'ganked' came to mind, but Felfe was too busy wondering what it was like to be that powerful to run for his life.

The blood elf turned around, and caught sight of Felfe, who promptly shut his gaping mouth.

A slow smirk came across the other elf's face. Felfe paled, realizing the rather dangerous position he was in. He hastily stealthed and slipped around to the other side of his tree, trying to stand as still as possible. He wasn't ready to make a run for it – sprint had drained him of his energy just a few moments ago. He held his breath and hoped that the elf would just leave him alone.

Obviously, that was not about to happen. Felfe heard the rustling of leaves, and then saw the blood-elf coming to stand in front of him. He gulped, cursing his stupidity.

'_At least it'll be a quick death.' _He thought morbidly, eyeing the Hungering Cold sheathed at the elf's hip. He then stared at the ground for a good few seconds, before wondering why he wasn't dead yet.

He cautiously looked up to see the elf staring at him. Their eyes connected, and Felfe found he couldn't look away. The blood elf was quite handsome, really. His long, raven black hair was tied in a low tail that fell over his shoulder. His skin was pale, and his eyes gleamed in the darkness.

Felfe decided that this wasn't the worst way to die. In fact, he wouldn't have wanted to be ganked by anyone else. My, but that sounded sappy, didn't it?

"Just what is a pretty, young night-elf like you doing in a place like this?" The blood-elf asked suddenly, still smirking.

Felfe's immediate thoughts were that he wasn't pretty, he wasn't that young, and this place was his level. Almost. He didn't voice his thoughts, however.

After an awkward pause in which Felfe did not answer, the blood-elf sighed.

"You know I can see through your stealth." He drawled in boredom.

Felfe, figuring that the end was near anyway, un-stealthed and once again took to staring at the ground. He probably shouldn't have done this, since the blood-elf took the opportunity to seize his chin in a gloved hand, and yank it upwards so that Felfe was once again looking into his eyes. They were closer than he had realized. Uncomfortably close.

He seemed to be examining Felfe's face for a moment, because the next moment he spoke again.

"You _are _a pretty one."

Felfe stared blankly at the supposed enemy. "What?"

The blood-elf laughed, and seemed relieved for some reason. "Well, at least you're talking now." And he smiled in a way that actually seemed sincere.

Felfe was going to smile back, but he belatedly noticed that the man's hand was still on his face, and was now stroking his cheek. He stared at the hand, and then at the blood-elf, and then at the hand, hoping the other elf would get the hint.

"Oh, my apologies." The blood-elf finally removed his hand, and Felfe told himself that the disappointed feeling he was having was _not _necessary.

They stood in silence for a couple more seconds as Felfe began to wonder when he was going to be killed. Maybe blood-elves just liked to play with their food…

An avalanche of mental pictures bombarded his mind, and he stopped that thought before it could go any farther. He hoped he wasn't blushing.

"Hmmm… well… I suppose you have things to do, don't you?" The black-haired elf stared rather wistfully at him.

"I… I guess so." Felfe stuttered. _'He's gotta be joking…'_

"That's the spirit. Get out there and start adventuring." The blood-elf nodded encouragingly at him. "We shall meet again."

And with that parting line in place, he leaned in to brush his lips over Felfe's cheek, causing the night-elf to jump. The blood-elf pulled away with yet another smirk, and left the clearing, vanishing into the darkness.

Felfe now realized that he was _not _dead, he was _not _dreaming, and-

'_Did he just kiss me?' _

He was not going to forget this anytime soon. Indeed, his head swam for a couple minutes as he tried to remember what he doing before he saw the blood-elf. After a while, he concluded that he had been on his way to Southshore.

'_I guess it's just one of those days…' _He thought to himself, rubbing his cheek thoughtfully with his hand. The dazed feeling still hadn't left him.

* * *

Felfe arrived at Southshore safely, with no more encounters of any kind, be they bear or horde. He walked over to the gryphon master, who signed him up for the flight path enthusiastically, and then to the inn.

"Home Sweet Home…" The physically and emotionally drained night-elf muttered, walking into the inn's busy main room. He checked in and set up his hearthstone, and then retired to a nice, soft bed.

An hour later, and unfortunately still awake, Felfe remembered that he had forgotten to pick up his mail outside the inn. He had sent the rest of his equipment in letters to himself, knowing that they would arrive at Southshore before he did.

'_I'll pick it up tomorrow… and I'll remember to wear all of it this time.' _He told himself sternly.

But for some reason, sleep didn't find him so easily. He couldn't stop thinking about that blood-elf, and why in the world he had acted like that. After all, Alliance and Horde were so different – as well as being sworn enemies. But the blood-elf had been almost… friendly.

Speaking of which…

'_I'll have to ask him his name next time I see him…' _Felfe thought, finally drifting off to sleep. He didn't ask himself why he thought there would be a next time.

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**_Click the Review button to tell me what you think, please._**


	2. Chapter 2

**Reviewers: **Thanks to anyone and everyone who reviewed! Your thoughts are appreciated muchly. Cookies for anyone reading this!

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**Chapter Two**

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Felfe woke up already tired, and meandered to the inn's bar to get some breakfast. He sat down and started to peruse the rather depressing menu.

"Hmmm… Should I get the Darnassian Bleu Omelet, or the Toasted Freshly Baked Bread?" He muttered to himself. Maybe some of those tough jerky slices fried in oil… Though the Shiny Red Apple pieces sounded good as well.

He was surprised to see a few men playing drinking games with what looked like Dwarven Stout. What surprised him more was when he was rudely yanked out of his seat by one of the said men, who proceeded to half-drag him outside, to the side of the inn nearer the forest.

"Hey, let go!" Felfe demanded, annoyed, but the human man (by the looks of him, a warrior) held him firmly. Some people just didn't have any manners. Here he was, eating breakfast by himself, and then this happens!

"No way. You're the firsht night-elfie here in weeksh." The man said hungrily, licking his lips.

'_He's completely smashed…' _Felfe mentally groaned. This was not going to end well, like most situations he ended up in. He was, after all, familiar with this sort of behavior. Except that it was usually directed at night-elf _women_. That meant, of course, that the man probably hadn't noticed the absence of… well… certain… extensions. _'Melons.' _Felfe's mind corrected emotionlessly.

"Do you realize I'm not a woman?" Felfe asked in irritation, hoping he could get his point across without too much difficulty. His breakfast was getting cold.

"Awwww, yer no woman. Not wi' that facshe!" The man grinned at him, drawing closer. Felfe realized that he was wedged between the wall and the warrior.

"Oh yeah? What about the chest? How do you explain that?" Felfe snapped, getting quite angry that he could be so easily mistaken for a member of the opposite gender. _'I think I have a very manly face.' _He mentally grumbled.

The man seemed to slowly consider the question, and then returned to grinning. "Wow, yer da flattest night-elfie lady I ever seen."

By this time, the 'night-elfie lady' had had quite enough, and was beginning to see red. He shoved the man away from him, glaring venomously. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that he was terribly weak. He had also forgotten that he was about as intimidating as a fluffy little kitten.

"Shoooo… you wanna get rough, eh?" The man asked, frowning. The next thing Felfe knew, the wind was knocked out of him by a meaty fist. He hissed in pain, trying not to fall to his knees. That was going to leave a mark. Being preoccupied with the pain, he didn't notice the rope until it was too late.

Somehow, the warrior had managed to tie the 'elfie's' wrists together with a line of rope, and was now knotting the rest of the rope firmly to one of the overhanging rafters jutting out from the inn's roof.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Felfe screeched, and the man glared at him.

Now, he was dangling about a foot off the ground, tied to the inn roof. Perfect height, since he was now almost as tall as the human man. Almost. _'How the heck do I get myself into stuff like this?' _

The man moved closer with a drunken grin, but stopped when the hilt of a huge sword thwocked him soundly on the head. He fell over, out cold.

The blood-elf stood there, sheathing the Hungering Cold, and smiling at the suspended night-elf.

"I suppose you must want to get down from there." I was more of a statement than a question, but Felfe nodded anyway. The paladin untied the rope quickly, and gathered Felfe in his arms, lowering him to the ground. All the while, he smirked, as if amused by the current situation. Felfe suddenly realized who his rescuer was, and flushed.

"You're… you're that guy!" He remembered suddenly, gesturing wildly to get the meaning across.

"Yes, I am." The blood-elf chuckled.

"How did you get into Southshore? Weren't there guards?" Felfe asked curiously.

"They weren't much of a problem." The paladin shrugged, indicating the pile of guards by the entrance to the town.

* * *

"_You… You killed every single one of them?" Felfe paled, looking at those bodies, bloodied and still. It started to rain, but obviously neither elf moved. This scene was far too intense to be taken inside, where it was most likely still warm and dry. "How could you? How could anyone do something like that?"_

"_They're just guards-" The blood-elf tried to explain, but was cut off._

"_Oh, so just because they're NPC's they don't have feelings? They don't feel pain? They don't have a family to go home to, kids to feed? Do you think this is some kind of sick game?"_

"_Look, they aren't-" He sighed as he was cut off again, and turned away from the night-elf._

"_They are human, too! Each of those guards is just as much a man as you are… and more than I'll ever be." Felfe tried to stop the tears, but they came anyway, like spring rains over parched soil. _

"_Felfe…" The paladin whispered solemnly, but the other elf wouldn't hear it._

"_How could you do it?" He whispered, mortified. Lightning flashed overhead, accompanied by rumbling thunder._

_The blood-elf slowly turned to face him again. He had a strange, indescribable expression on his face, almost a mixture of pity, understanding, and something else. _

"_People do crazy things… when they're in love." He said quietly._

_Felfe gasped. "You… love me?" The words sounded so foreign on his tongue. All thoughts of guards and NPC's were forgotten._

"_Yes." The paladin said softly, gazing deep into Felfe's glowing eyes._

"_I think… I love you, too." Felfe replied, coming to stand closer to the other elf as the rain grew steadily heavier, soaking them both, making them feel so alive…He had only realized his feelings for the blood-elf a few seconds ago, but he now felt as if they had been there all along._

_He found his back pressed against the wall of the inn as the blood-elf leaned closer. He knew what would come next, but his heart and mind were divided. _

"_Oh, we mustn't, we mustn't!" Felfe said desperately. "You're Horde, I'm Alliance… It would never work…" He lowered his eyes._

"_Oh, but we must." The black-haired elf pleaded. "We can make it work." He forced Felfe to look at him. Velvet lips crushed against his mercilessly._

"_Oh…" Felfe 'protested' as he was thoroughly kissed._

* * *

"… Is something wrong?" The blood-elf asked, seeing Felfe standing there blankly, his eyes glazing over and a blush inexplicably coming over his face.

The words took Felfe out of his now rather explicit daydream, and back to the much more boring present.

"Huh?" He asked eloquently. Then he realized where he was. "Oh, I'm fine. Really." He said quickly.

"Good." The other elf seemed relieved. Then the worried look returned. "Where did he touch you?"

"W-what?"

"I said, where-"

"No, I heard you." Felfe said in a rush, blushing furiously. That daydream was coming back to haunt him, and he told it to go away. "He didn't touch me. I don't think he realized I wasn't a woman."

"That's warriors for you. Bunch of idiots." The blood-elf said absentmindedly.

"I'm a paladin!" The man on the ground called out angrily.

"Back, you knave!" The blood-elf said with disgust, hitting the man with the flat of his blade, effectively knocking him out for the second time. The black-haired elf looked quite pleased.

Felfe giggled despite himself, but stopped when he saw the other elf raise an eyebrow.

A few moments of awkward silence, and then dawning realization came over the blood-elf's face.

"Did he hurt you?" He asked, in 'worried' mode again.

"Yeah. He punched me in the stomach." Felfe glared at the 'fakeadin's' limp body.

"Did he really?" The black-haired savior asked mischievously, almost with a tone of glee.

"Why do you sound happy about that?" Felfe asked in confusion, belatedly realizing that his position was once again between the wall and a man who was much taller than he was.

"Oh, I was just going to say…" The elf trailed off, looking meaningfully at Felfe. "That I could kiss it better."

There was a slight pause in which the young night-elf's face reddened considerably. The blood-elf actually _laughed _at the look on his face.

"N-no thanks. It doesn't hurt." He said quickly, but the other man took no notice of the sentence, and lifted up the lower part of Felfe' shirt to inspect the damage.

"Hey! Don't-"

The blood-elf whistled appreciatively. "That's a pretty nasty bruise. Looks like you got a critical. You'll want to take care of that." He then, to Felfe's eternal gratefulness, let go of the shirt and commented no further on the matter.

A few moments of silence passed, and then Felfe remembered his manners.

"Thanks for saving me." He said suddenly.

His savior smiled. "Any time."

Yet another awkward pause took hold. It didn't last long this time, though, because Felfe remembered that he had forgotten something else.

"Oh… uh… what's your name?" He asked shyly, chiding himself on sounding incredibly girlish.

"I never introduced myself? I must have forgotten." The blood-elf bowed gracefully. "You may call me Kain."

"Nice to meet you." Felfe said automatically, committing the name to long-term memory. "I'm-"

"Felfe."

Felfe 's mouth suddenly felt quite dry. The way the blood-elf had said his name, like it was familiar, had startled him.

"H-how do you know that?"

"My little secret." The elf – Kain – had the _nerve _to wink at him obnoxiously.

A pause, and then both of them attempted to speak at the same time. The result was an incoherent mess.

Kain nodded politely. "You first."

"You'd better get going. They'll send more guards." Felfe tried to look as if he wasn't worried, and failed miserably. He probably sounded like a mother hen.

"Pfft. Nothing I can't handle." Kain smirked.

"Yes, but that means they're going to get human players over here." Felfe pointed out.

"Ah. Yes. PVP. I had almost forgotten." Kain's hand went the hilt of his sword instinctively as he glanced around. "You're right. I should leave before they send in Sir Dancealot. He's my sworn enemy, you know." The blood-elf chuckled, but Felfe wasn't entirely sure he was joking.

Kain paused thoughtfully. Then, he came closer to Felfe, tilting the night-elf's face to an appropriate angle using his left hand. Felfe's daydream came back at full force, and he had to keep from scowling, while attempting to push it to the back of his mind.

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." Kain said reassuringly, and pressed his lips to Felfe's briefly.

Felfe, for _some odd reason_, didn't resist, as in the daydream. His mind was in the background telling him he was being used, but he didn't particularly care.

Kain pulled away smiling. "We will meet again, Felfe."

And he walked into the forest vanishing in a glow of green.

'_Hearthstone.' _The night-elf's mind told him dazedly. It then steered him into the inn's common room, up the stairs, and to his bed, where he promptly fainted.

The mailbox outside the inn stood there neglected, with a huge sign that in blinking neon lights read, 'You've Got Mail'.

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**_So, what do you think? It's going in a humorous direction at the moment, and I'm personally quite pleased._**


	3. Chapter 3

**Reviewers: **Woot! More people reviewed than I expected. Thanks, everyone! I'm glad you guys like the story.

**Random Notes: **Hehe, the bunny rabbits referenced to in this chapter were inspired by Thefearedone from the Hakkar server. Kudos to you, man!

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**Chapter Three**

Felfe woke to the chirping of birds, and sat up feeling greatly renewed. He ran his fingers through his silky white hair contentedly, wondering where he was going to go exploring today. Everything was so good in the world. Why hadn't he realized that before? He yawned, rubbing his eyes sleepily. A smile made its way onto his face.

Then, it all came rushing back to him. The near-death experience, the blood elf, the-

'_The blood elf!' _Felfe sat there in a state of astonishment. The blood elf who had, interestingly enough, saved him twice in the last two days. However, that wasn't exactly what Felfe was remembering.

His dreams from the night before were reflected vividly in his mind, and he went red. He tried pushing away the images, but they assaulted him like so many little daggers.

'_T-this is ridiculous! I don't even like him!' _He protested. His mind laughed back at him and showed him a few seconds of rather explicit footage as if saying 'explain this, then'. His mind then informed him that the blood elf's name was Kain, and he should probably try to remember it in the future.

'_It's not like I'm going to see him again…' _Felfe grumbled mentally, wondering why he was bothering to argue with the little voices in his head. He walked over to the dresser in the room and picked up his hairbrush, starting to run it through his hair.

'_I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you.' _

'_What do you mean?'_

'_You know you're going to see him again.'_

'_Huh?'_

'_Felfe, you sound like a complete moron.'_

'_Oh, thanks.'_

'…'

'_What?'_

'_Look, it's obvious that he's interested in you. He's not just going to leave you alone after this. He's going to hunt you down and claim you before someone else does. That's how it works.'_

Felfe's brushstrokes paused, and he at last set down the brush. He looked into the mirror on the wall with a partly sullen expression. His solemn face stared back at him, and he looked away.

'_What is it now?' _The voice in his head demanded in a weary tone.

'_That doesn't make sense. Why would anyone like _me_?' _

'_Oh, honestly…I am not going to have a stupid conversation like this.'_

'_I still don't think he likes me.' _Felfe stated stubbornly.

'_Yes, and you're blind as a bat that's had Holy Fire cast in its face.' _

And that marked the end of that mental discussion.

* * *

Felfe walked out the inn door, still feeling rather depressed. He was so preoccupied with his troubling thoughts that he didn't even remember to get his mail. He had by now forgotten that the mail held all of his leather equipment, as well as the fact that he was bound to run into monsters again.

He sprinted along the road, setting out to fill out more of his map of Hillsbrad Foothills. After a while, sprint faded from him, and he fell into a steady running pace. Everything was going smoothly until his map pointed out an herb to him.

'_Oh, hey, it's a peacebloom!' _He thought excitedly. He loved herbalism, though he wasn't an alchemist and actually didn't have any need to pick herbs. To be truthful, he just thought the flowers were pretty.

Felfe decided to venture into the forest, just a short way, to find the peacebloom. After all, there wouldn't be any monsters so close to the road. He walked off the cobblestone path in search of the flowers.

'_Hmmm… they should be right around here…' _He looked back and forth, and finally laid eyes on the small group of white blossoms growing on the grassy land. _'Aha!'_

He practically skipped over to the prize, and knelt down to stuff it into his woolen bag. He was so happy about finally finding some more of his favorite herb that he didn't notice the enemies creeping up behind him until it was too late.

He stood up, and turned around to see not one, not two, but _three _mountain lions lunging at him. There was no time to scream. He nearly did so anyway, but was interrupted when an arm wrapped around his waist and dragged him backwards.

He heard more than saw the three lions fall to a huge sword, what with their catlike shrieking at the unfairness of it all. A few 'thump' sounds, and the threat was gone. Felfe tried to slow his breath, and closed his eyes for a second. Near-death experiences always had this effect on him. No matter how often, it was always just as frightening.

Felfe realized suddenly that he was leaning against someone's chest, and the arm was still around his waist. For some reason, he decided to let it go, since the guy had just saved his life and all. However, when the man sheathed his weapon and pulled him closer, into a position that was more of an embrace, he had had enough.

"H-hey!" He protested, wishing he didn't stutter so much in his nervousness.

The guy actually let go of him and apologized, which was surprising. They usually weren't this nice, but… Wait, that voice was familiar! It couldn't be…

Felfe spun around to see Kain looking down at him, smirking. He remembered their last two encounters, and his mouth opened and closed slowly as he failed to say anything. After a couple tries, he stubbornly closed his mouth and didn't say anything at all.

Kain, who had been patiently waiting for him to talk, saw that that was not going to happen anytime soon. "Do you enjoy getting yourself killed?"

Felfe's mouth worked furiously, trying to come up with some response. Heck, anything would do. Come on, just say something!

"No." He finally stated, and sighed. He told his mind angrily that those pictures were not appropriate. He didn't even like the guy!

Kain just smiled at him. _'Obnoxiously,' _was almost added, but Felfe knew it wasn't true.

"Well, let's get going before they respawn." Kain said, in a way that seemed as if everyone always listened to him. Felfe reminded himself that he didn't really have a choice. Kain could gank him whenever he wanted. Oh, the horrors of contested territory!

"Okay." Felfe complied meekly, following Kain back onto the road. For some reason, Kain seemed to be leading him somewhere, as he kept glancing back to make sure his charge was still there.

They walked in silence for a few awkward minutes, until Felfe couldn't stand it anymore. Curiosity always got the better of him.

"Where are we going?" He asked cautiously, now walking beside Kain.

Kain stopped walking, and stared blatantly at the other elf. Felfe stopped as a result, and looked back at Kain.

"Huh?"

Kain seemed to be resisting laughter. "You actually… don't know… where we are?" He said between pauses, grinning.

Felfe, offended, looked around. "It looks like the same road and forest as everywhere else."

Kain did laugh, this time. "I'm taking you back to Southshore."

Felfe pouted for a moment at the indignity, but then brightened as his mind registered the previous sentence. "Really? Thanks!"

Kain, now chuckling at him, assured him that it was not a problem. They continued the journey to Southshore in a more amiable silence than before, and Felfe was still wondering why he hadn't been ganked yet. He would have asked, at this point, except for the fact that doing so might endanger his life.

Then again, his mind had told him that Kain liked him, so… perhaps it wasn't that much of a risk. Again, curiosity got the better of him.

"Kain?"

"Yes?" The blood elf looked down into Felfe's eyes, and the night elf found that he didn't remember what he was going to say.

"Um…" He fidgeted, trying to think up something, anything, to ask. "Do you like me?"

'_Noooooooo! Why did you ask that? What are you thinking!?' _Felfe then paled, realizing the words that had just slipped out of his mouth. The paled hue of his skin contrasted nicely with the blush spreading across his face. _'Take it back! Take it back! Say you were… like… Say you meant something else, like… oh, I don't know. You got yourself into this mess!'_

Meanwhile, both elves had stopped walking, and Kain was looking at Felfe in surprise. Felfe found himself looking away in humiliation. He felt like the smallest little rabbit right now, in the presence of Nefarian.

He could feel eyes on him, staring at him, as if wondering who he was to ask a question like that. Asking that of a member of the opposite faction, no less! And a level sixty, to boot…

Kain still hadn't said anything, so Felfe figured he had really offended him. Well, it was best to face things head on. The night elf slowly looked back at Kain to see a confused expression on his face.

"Why would you ask a question like that?" The blood elf said in complete bewilderment, and Felfe cursed himself for being so stupid. He was mentally yelling at his mind about how he was right this time.

Wait, what now? Kain was stepping closer to him, which could only mean…

'_Oh, no… He _is _going to gank me. Maybe, if I ran fast enough – No, he'd still catch me.'_

As if he could sense Felfe's fear, Kain smiled. That, however, only made Felfe more scared.

'_He's going to gank me… and enjoy it.' _The poor night elf watched as Kain drew closer, finally stopping with a rather uncomfortable amount of space between them, or lack thereof. The blood elf placed his hands on Felfe's waist, causing him to jump. He then leaned in towards his prey, and kissed him on the mouth.

As Kain's lips moved against his, Felfe's vision hazed over, like a mist of blue. Where he had expected numbers to fly off, there were instead little hearts, stars, and bunny rabbits flitting across his view. In fact, he didn't even notice that he was leaning into the kiss, eyes closed in bliss.

And then it ended slowly, and the blue mist separated, leaving the little bunny rabbits to skitter away happily. Kain took his hands off Felfe's waist, and stepped back to a more comfortable – or should we say less comfortable – distance.

"I hope you understand now." Kain smirked. Felfe nodded slowly, not really all there, and chose that exact time to faint.

* * *

Felfe woke in his room at the Southshore inn, disoriented for a few seconds before he remembered everything. He could vaguely hear his mind shouting in the background about how it was victorious, but that didn't seem to matter anymore.

He found himself giggling in an extremely girlish way, and stopped. But still, he was happier than he had been since… well… ever. He figured Kain had carried him all the way back to the inn, and ran to the window to look out.

Indeed, there was a pile of Southshore guards near the middle of the town, and various human players seemed to be having a heated discussion. Kain had definitely been there.

Speaking of Kain, he would have to thank him for carrying him all the way back. After all, there was no longer any doubt that they would meet again.

Felfe, now feeling quite happy, got up to get some dinner at the inn's common room. Unfortunately, he then discovered that he was still dizzy, and ended up falling back onto the bed.

'_Oh well. I'll have dinner later.' _He concluded, far too enthusiastic about life to let something like that bring him down. _'I wonder who Sir Dancealot is, anyway…'_

And he drifted off to sleep with his random thoughts, dreaming of fluffy white bunnies and cotton candy landscapes.

* * *

_**So, how is it so far?**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Reviewers: **Amazing. There's no other word for it. I mean, here I am, posting one of the only yaoislashshounenai fics on the entire thinking no one who plays WoW would even read fanfiction. How wrong I was. I thank you all for reviewing – I love getting reviews.

**Random Notes: **I really wasn't thinking of continuing this (not that I didn't want to, I just had others things to do) but since everyone who has reviewed seems to think it's a masterpiece (XD) I guess I have to.

Hehe, I am going to enjoy writing this, though, no doubt about that.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Felfe woke up, and immediately knew something was wrong. It was so dark in the room that he could barely see anything. What was he doing awake at such an hour? Had some sort of sense of impending doom wakened him purposefully, in the hopes that he might save himself?

He sat up in the bed quickly, eyes glancing from his window to the door, and back. Both were closed, and as far as he could hear, nothing was wrong. But there had to be some reason he was awake.

Oddly enough, he couldn't remember having any dreams at all the night before, and almost sighed regretfully before mentally scolding himself. No need to blush. It was simply unnecessary. Yes, that was the word.

Birdsong made its way to his ears, and he nearly jumped. What sane bird would be up at this hour? It was still fairly dark out, and… well… it just wasn't natural for anything to be awake at this time of the day!

'_Come to think of it, what time is it, anyway?' _He wondered, leaning over to observe the hands of the clock sitting on the bedside table.

It was seven-thirty in the morning.

* * *

Felfe managed to get some more sleep, and was out of the inn by ten o' clock, which was earlier than usual. After all, he had to be fully rested if he wanted to get some nice experience points today. And there was no better way of doing that than lazing around in your local inn.

"I really must remember to pick up my mail." He frowned, walking out of the inn's common room. He eyed the flashing sign in confusion for a second before realizing that the thing it perched on was, indeed, the mailbox. Let's just say he wasn't used to getting mail. Ever.

Suddenly a thought struck him. If this 'Sir Dancealot' was on the Alliance side – as he must be, to be an enemy of Kain – surely he would be listed in the huge mighty book of all characters of the World. That meant that if he wanted, he could go look up this guy, and find out what level he was, his class, and even where he was at this very instant!

Felfe smiled pleasantly to himself, and then walked – in no hurry, mind you – to the rather official looking building near the docks. As soon as he was inside, he could tell it was the right place. An old man with graying hair and glasses was seated at a large desk, on which was set a book so huge, so enormous that it looked like it was about to fall off the desk. On both sides.

"Um… excuse me…?" Felfe said nervously. The old human man looked up from reading, and then gave a start.

"Oh, my. I suppose you want to take a look at the book, then?" He looked very much like someone's grandfather, Felfe thought, and that made him feel just a bit better.

He was known for not getting along well with people. Half the men thought he was a woman, and the rest didn't care as long as he had a pretty face. The women were worse. They were always eyeing him like they were certain – certain! – that he was after their man. In some cases, 'men.'

Regardless, at least this fellow was nice. But that was probably because he was an NPC. NPC's were always nice, unless they weren't supposed to be, and then they weren't. Obviously, this one was placed here to help players find other players in their faction, either by level, class, zone, or name.

Felfe smiled, and nodded at the NPC. That's what you had to do with most of them, just smile and nod.

"Well then, I won't stop you. I was just having a look, anyway. Go ahead." And the old man left, the two swords strapped to his back revealing themselves.

'_Oh.' _Was all Felfe could think.

He should have known by the name that the fellow wasn't an NPC, but really. He looked so… well… computer-controlled, sitting there. Very suitable, an old man wearing glasses.

His mind told him in exasperation that those were _goggles_, and they did not even look remotely like glasses. To which he told his mind that he didn't know how he was supposed to tell the difference, never having seen a pair of glasses in his life.

Then he reminded himself that he was here to look at the book, and sat himself down in the comfy armchair. He flipped through the pages, looking for the letter 'S.' Soon enough he found it, and a couple hundred pages later located the name. 'Sirdancealot' was a level two gnome rogue currently in Ironforge. Oh.

… Could Kain's sworn enemy really be…?

No, no, that wouldn't be it at all. Unless Kain had been joking. Maybe he had.

But a hunch told him to look up 'Sirlancelot' instead, just in case. Perhaps the dance part had just been some sort of insult.

Yes! There it was, 'Sirlancelot' the human paladin, level 60, and by the looks of it, in Stormwind at the moment.

'_I wonder if he looks like the rest of those human paladins, with that ridiculous blonde hair!' _Felfe very nearly laughed out loud, but managed to slap a hand over his mouth. Giggling like that was not something rogues did. _'Maybe the book has some way I can get a picture of him, or something. Just a headshot, you know.'_

'_It's not a dating service, Felfe.' _His mind rolled its imaginary eyes at him.

"I wasn't saying it was!" Felfe's cheeks turned slightly pink as he argued, not realizing he had spoken.

"Er… what?"

Felfe jumped from the chair so fast that his leg caught on one of the chair's legs, and he tripped, falling onto the floor. Rubbing his forehead, he slowly got up from where he had fallen flat on his face. It hurt! Why did it have to hurt?

The gnome a few feet away was looking at him like he was a strange, but somehow fascinating beetle. If beetles could be fascinating. Personally, he hated them. Vile things. Gross.

Felfe colored some more, his face now definitely red, and stalked out of the room. The gnome had not even bothered to ask if he was okay. How cold! Everyone was cold, cold, cold, cold! All because they couldn't figure out what gender he was for a couple seconds. Big deal!

He realized he was already out of Southshore, walking along that familiar path, and sighed. He had hit his head quite hard, and he could feel the headache coming on.

"Great. Just great." He muttered, suppressing tears. His life had always been some kind of joke to the rest of the world, but now more than ever he felt like the unluckiest player in the World.

"This is stupid. Why am I crying?" He hastily scrubbed what could have been the beginnings of tears from his eyes. "No. I'm not crying. Rogues don't cry."

He paused in thought, and a minute later he was a miserable wreck, complete with tears flowing down his face, and his nose starting to get runny. He nearly laughed through the sobs because of how pathetic this was. He had only tripped. It wasn't that bad. But here he was making a big deal out of it.

"Oh… gosh… I… I am c-crying!" He hiccupped. And then, as far as he could tell, he fainted. Odd time to faint, really.

* * *

When Felfe sat up, it was evening. Evening meant darkness, and darkness meant wolves. And whatever else was out there and liked the dark. And whatever was out there – and liked the dark – most likely enjoyed the taste of flesh as well.

Felfe shook his head frantically to clear it of morbid thoughts.

'_As if you've ever had a morbid thought in your life.' _His mind snickered.

He frowned, and rose to his feet, rubbing his forehead. He winced as the headache pounded, but it did have a right. Hitting his head twice in one day was abnormal enough. Or at least, it would be to most people. Felfe was a phenomena all his own, which meant he was always getting into some sort of trouble that wasn't his fault.

He fervently hoped that the pain would go away soon. As it was, he was going to have to go back to Southshore empty-handed – no new maps, no experience points, nothing at all. Just a couple bumps on his head.

At least his nose had stopped running.

He sighed. '_What should I do?' _

The voices in his head laughed, but said nothing. He gave them his best glare, which sent the lot of them into giggles. It always did.

"Well, if you're not going to help, I'll just find my own way." He said stubbornly. "Maybe I'll camp out here for the night. Out in the wilderness."

He pretended he was completely serious. The voices actually had the nerve to encourage him to that course of action. Even thought they knew nothing good would come of it.

"Fine! Maybe I _will!_" He scowled, and marched off into the forest.

Then he remembered the monsters, and stealthed in panic. Regaining his breath, he crept slowly deeper into the forest, through the trees and past the spiders.

Eventually, the forest thinned out, and the grassy area free of trees looked quite uninhabited. In fact, he didn't see any monsters at all.

He smiled for the first time in what seemed days, and settled down on the grassy field, telling himself that there were no bugs. No bugs at all. Certainly no beetles. Ugh, beetles…

Luckily, he was tired enough that even thoughts of beetles could not keep him awake. He drifted off to sleep, hoping the rested bonus was not going to steadily decrease. Sleeping on grass didn't count as rest, after all.

* * *

He woke to bright sunlight, and a nice warmth shining down on him. That could only be the sun. Ah, how wonderful it was to wake up, having slept on the earthy ground, feeling like a true adventurer at last. The birds sang beautifully in the trees, the wind caressed the grasses and caused them to waver. Everything was per-

"Ow! Ow ow ow ow!" Felfe exclaimed. His back had just cracked horribly after he sat up, and he swore his shoulders were damaged in some way, the way they were aching.

He could not imagine that everyone else put up with this stuff after they had slept in the woods, or anywhere without a bed.

Then he remembered that he was different. Other people 'regenerated' health like some freaky alien beings. Felfe didn't. He didn't know why he didn't, and he suspected he would never know why he didn't. He just didn't. And that was all there was to it.

Maybe other people also ached after they woke up from sleeping on the ground, but their pain probably went away quickly. Felfe knew that his would stay for a good hour or more. He groaned.

After standing up, he stood there for a few minutes, completely clueless as to what he was doing. Or had been doing. Or should be doing.

"I never know what I'm doing," he grumbled.

He tried to stretch, but that only brought a sharp pain in his arms and back, as well as a few choice words that would probably make his mother hide her laughter behind a handkerchief.

Personally, he did not know how to swear. Other people used words, sometimes. But he never listened, and he never remembered. If someone told him once, perhaps exasperated at his 'innocence,' he must have forgotten.

So he used cute words instead. Things like 'cream puff' or 'biscuits' or even – if he was remarkably angry – 'muffins.' Obviously, this did nothing for his reputation for being rather feminine (rather, his mind told him, was an understatement), nor did it help to have people laughing at him. Well, more than they already were.

Felfe sighed. At least his back wasn't hurting quite as much now. He turned to see the ocean far away, beyond his grassy plains. His? Well, whatever.

That ocean was pretty. With sparkling azure waters, with the sun glinting off them… how wonderful. He was almost tempted to have a swim. In fact, maybe that would be a good idea. It might help his shoulders relax.

Of course, he couldn't go in as he was. Those clothes, however unequipped he was, would drag him down.

… Oh, biscuits! He had forgotten to get his mail again.

With a sigh, he figured he'd just go back to the inn after his swim. And remember to check his mail.

'_Well, guess I'll have to find my way over there first. Then I'll get undressed, and get in. Of course, I have to make sure there's no one around.' _He blushed, walking forward towards the blue expanse. The grass seemed to just… end… a few feet in front of him.

He was going to stop and consider why that was, but his feet kept going.

And all of a sudden he was falling. _'Ah. It was a cliff.'_

… A CLIFF!?

He waved his arms frantically as he fell, most certainly shrieking loudly. _'I don't want to die! I want to live! I can't die like this, it's not even heroic! It's just stupid!'_

'_It was your fault to die stupidly, you idiot.' _His mind seemed not to care at all.

And then suddenly it was over. He hit the ground, and the ground went 'Oof!' as he collapsed onto it. But why would the sand bother saying 'oof' anyway? Unless it was not ground, in which case…

In which case he would be alive!

"I'm alive! Thank the gods!" Felfe half burst into tears, half started to laugh, and got very confused. He ended up just looking around in amazement. No one could make that fall and survive.

Wait, but what was that about the ground not being ground? If the ground was not ground, what was it?

"Please… get off me…" A strangled voice gasped.

Felfe jumped, and quickly scooted away from that particular patch of ground.

"It talks!" He gaped. Then he saw that it was not ground at all. In fact, it didn't even remotely resemble ground. And 'it' was a he. A familiar he.

"Yes, I do." The blood-elf grunted, getting to his feet to wipe the sand off his clothed and armor. The Hungering Cold seemed to flash angrily at having sand stuck to it.

"O-oh. It's you." Felfe blushed, and stood up nervously. _'There's no way I'm swimming now. Not with him here.'_

"Yes, it's fortunate that you landed on me, or you would have died." There was almost a sarcastic tone to that, as if Kain had also had a bad day.

Felfe looked down at the sand sadly, wondering what he had done to make the blood-elf angry. Well, besides landing on him.

Kain suddenly seemed to read his mind, and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I've had a rough time lately, so… I shouldn't have taken it out on you." He paused, then a flicker of recognition passed his face. "What were you doing walking off a cliff, anyway?"

"Cream puffs…" Felfe muttered, realizing exactly how stupid he had been.

"What?" Kain quirked an eyebrow. "Cream puffs? I like them, too, but I don't see how that has to do with anything."

"Ah… it's n-nothing. I mean, I don't know."

"You make a lot of sense."

"Sorry! I just… I don't know. I kinda just… walked off it."

For some reason, Kain started laughing – really laughing – and Felfe felt that he should be affronted. But again, for some reason, the fact that the blood-elf was laughing at him didn't seem to matter. He had made him laugh, and that actually made him rather… proud.

Unfortunately, this very interesting scene came to a close when both members heard the garbled sounds that could only belong to one manner of beast…

"Murlocs…" Kain breathed. He paled, and his eyes shifted to locate the monsters. There were more than he thought possible. Probably about thirty.

"Muffins!" Felfe cursed.

Kain, in a happier situation, would have stopped to ask Felfe what the heck he was talking about. But, this being a dangerous situation, there was no time for such things.

"Felfe, come here. Now!" He shouted, knowing exactly how bad this could turn out. It even one of them got to Felfe, there was no chance for him.

Felfe quickly obeyed, running to his side. Kain wasted no time in picking him up, and settling him in his arms. Felfe, for once, didn't even bother protesting. He trusted Kain to know what he was doing.

"What am I supposed to do?" Kain muttered in frustration, eyeing the oncoming murlocs that now had them cornered against the cliff wall. The reptilian, yet so called 'humanoids' were spread out in a semicircle around them.

Felfe decided not to trust Kain to know what to do ever again.

All thoughts died as one of the murlocs gave a strange warcry, and took off towards them. The others followed suit.

Kain drew Hungering Cold from its scabbard. He only held onto Felfe's waist with one arm, hoping that the other elf would be able to hold on himself. Felfe had already flung arms around his neck, though, and was clinging to him as if he was their last chance.

And he was.

He sliced an oncoming murloc across the face – if it could be called that – and whipped the blade through the air from the left to the right, catching a couple more of them. He stabbed on, and then darted back as three tried to bite the arm holding Felfe. They could sense weakness, and they liked night-elf meat.

Kain blocked the swipe of a scaly hand, and swung the blade with such force that it chopped not one, not two, but three murlocs' heads off. They flew through the air in a rather morbid way, but he had no time to consider that. Left, right, left right. The blade struck one and then headed to the next without pause. Yes, he was a level sixty. The best of the best. But even he could not handle thirty murlocs without breaking a sweat. Only the Highlord Bolvar Fordragon could do things like that, and much help he was, stashed away in the Stormwind Keep.

The dealt blows to murlocs on all sides, trying to make sure he knew where they all were so he could defend Felfe. The sword sailed through the air, making a low buzzing sound, the icy glow flickering dangerously.

A few murlocs were frozen in ice for a few moments, but they soon rejoined the fight. Kain saw that many were left. Too many. Nearly twenty. They were not going to make it.

"Hold on, I'm going to try to get us out of here!" He shouted a bit dramatically over the garbled cries of murlocs. Felfe made no response except to cling to him even more desperately.

He made his way through the mob of murlocs, blade cutting down whatever was in his way. Soon, he had made it out of the circle of monsters, and started to run for it. Normally, he would use his hearthstone in a situation like this, but he couldn't shield Felfe at the same time as himself, and he was not about to let Felfe die.

The murlocs trailed behind him, clawing at him mercilessly. He kept running, trying to outdistance them.

"AH!" Felfe yelped, and Kain looked over his shoulder to see that a murloc had attached itself to Felfe's arm… by its teeth.

He hastily knocked it away, where it fell into the oncoming stampede and was trampled. Felfe winced, tears in the corners of his eyes, but held onto him for dear life.

And then it was over. The murlocs all turned back and ran to where they had been waiting, silently, in the ocean's waters.

Kain breathed a sigh of relief, and then remembered the scream.

"Felfe, are you all right? They went back, now." He kept running, though, looking for a way up into the forest.

"N-no. Yes!"

"That makes a lot of sense." Kain said dryly.

"I'm fine." Felfe said, but his voice wavered uncertainly.

Kain managed to find a small pond in the middle of the forest, and decided that it was as good a place as any to stop. That is, after he killed a wolf, two spiders, and a bear that were seemingly patrolling around it.

He set Felfe down next to the lake, and carefully grasped the injured arm. There were bloodied marks where the murloc's teeth had sank into flesh, and there was still a small flow of blood oozing out of the bites.

"Nasty murlocs." Kain scowled. He suddenly wondered why Felfe was being so quiet, and glanced over at his face.

The night-elf was watching him with an expression that was partly serious, partly guilty, and partly something else. As soon as he realized Kain was looking at him, he looked away uneasily. Kain went back to examining the wound.

He half dragged Felfe over to the edge of the lake, where he was able to wash the bite marks of blood. Then, he took out some bandages that he had stored somewhere on his person, and started winding it around the arm, keeping the fabric tight against the skin, but not enough to cut off circulation.

Felfe, for some reason, watched in silence as the whole thing was carried out. Kain figured that he must have finally realized that getting into near-death situations was… well… risking death.

Sure, they had escaped from the murlocs eventually, but would they if it happened again? What would have happened if Kain hadn't been there at all? What if Felfe had been cornered by murlocs by himself? So many if's, and all of them seemed quite frightening.

He secured the bandage, and gave Felfe what he hoped was a comforting pat on the shoulder. Felfe smiled weakly, and said a soft thank you.

They sat at the edge of the lake like that for another few minutes until Felfe broke the silence.

"Thanks for… uh… not taking off my shirt." The night-elf said gratefully, but more as a way of saying something rather than saying nothing at all.

Kain blinked. Was that really what Felfe had said, or had he heard him wrong? Looking at the night-elf to figure his question out, he saw his companion become flustered.

Felfe blushed. "No, that's not – I mean, in all those ridiculous stories men injure, say, their leg, and when someone's tending to it they always take their shirts off, even if they could have just rolled up the slee-"

While Felfe had been going on and on about things that happened in romance novels (at least, Kain was pretty sure those were the 'stories' being alluded to) the blood-elf had leaned purposefully closer. Close enough that Felfe stopped talking, and looked at him with wide eyes.

"If you wanted me to take off your shirt, you only had to ask." Kain whispered huskily into Felfe's ear, making sure to nearly brush skin with his moving lips.

He heard the telltale gasp from Felfe, and he smirked. Yes, he knew he was toying with the poor night-elf, but he really couldn't resist.

Pulling back slightly so he could see Felfe's expression, he smirked. Felfe looked to be putting great effort into looking offended, or at least confused, but he was failing extravagantly. In fact, the look on his face could pass more easily for mild surprise than offense. But of course, 'mild' was an understatement.

A few moments passed, in which Felfe's mouth opened and shut, as if he was trying to come up with some semblance of an answer. Or perhaps he was trying to argue himself out of saying 'yes, please do,' or something just as notoriously cliché.

After that length of time, Felfe regained the art of speech. "N-no thanks. That's okay." Slightly.

Kain smiled, and was tempted to say that he could see through Felfe's lies as easily as he could his stealth, but decided against it. Oddly enough, it looked like Felfe wanted him to do just that, regardless of what he said.

'_What am I supposed to do, pounce on him and… eventually… get his shirt off?' _But then, Kain knew how these romance novels generally went, and something like that would not go amiss there. Felfe probably had a whole library of romance novels.

"As you wish." He said as smoothly as he could. Felfe shivered slightly, but said nothing. His eyes were once again focused on the ground. Kain wondered what it was that was so interesting on the ground, and was about to ask when he heard the growl of a hungry stomach.

Felfe turned his gaze from the ground to his stomach, and then sighed.

"Well, we'd best get you something to eat. Come on." Kain, helped him up, and they both started for Southshore once again.

* * *

_**So, how is it so far?**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Reviewers: **Yay, more reviews! Thanks, guys.

**Random Notes: **I hope this chapter turns out as long as the last one, lol.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Shouting accompanied the clashing of steel, both sounds coming from somewhere outside the window. Felfe sprang to his feet, belting the twin daggers on hurriedly. His heart pounded wildly in his chest at the sudden awakening.

'_What in the world is going on out there?' _He thought with more than a little unease.

A glance at the clock told him that it was near midnight. A fine time to be up and about, to be sure. Felfe quickly darted over to the mirror to check his hair, and then yanked open the bedroom door.

He ran down the steps, hoping a misplaced foot would not send him falling down the stairs. The inn common room was empty for once, excepting the NPC's that were always there. The innkeeper smiled at him, and asked him if he wanted to know about the local dungeons. Felfe frowned and made for the hallway that led outside. Not much could shake an NPC from its usual personality, short of an attack.

Although, that sounded exactly like what was happening. Loud clangs of steel meeting steel, the screams of some of the more vulnerable NPC's (and maybe some lower level players) pierced the air.

Felfe halted, and pressed himself against the wall right before the open doorway. What was he doing out here, anyway? There was obviously a fight going on, but nothing he could do would help. Much as it saddened him to realize that.

He saw a small gnome girl running fearfully past the inn, chased by what looked like an undead warlock – if the little imp perched on his shoulder was any indication.

"Muffins!" Felfe swore, realizing he had to do something, anything. "She doesn't stand a chance…"

Disregarding his better judgment (which had been supplied by his mind, as usual), he ran out of the inn, after the skeletal form in flowing robes.

"Hey!" He shouted at the man. Then he realized he didn't know what else to say. Shouldn't he… maybe throw a few insults, some fancy words, or something? "Your mother was a… a…" He stuttered.

Apparently, even an unfinished insult did the trick. The warlock turned around, and eyed him with a rather puzzled expression. The gnome girl dove off the dock into the ocean, now completely ignored.

"What?" The undead's voice was harsh and grating, but he sounded confused.

"Um… it's nothing." Felfe looked around, and saw that the main battle was taking place over near the gryphon master. That meant that there was no one to help him. _'Grrr… biscuits.'_

The warlock looked more perplexed than he had, but seemed to decide that Felfe was not a threat. He started casting something with dark magic. A something that was probably going to make Felfe scream and run in random directions like a little girl.

"Oh, no you don't!" Felfe snapped, walking up to the warlock and slapping him hard across the face.

The undead man gaped at him for a moment, completely forgetting the casting of his spell. He tenderly touched the rotting skin, which burned terribly.

"I thought only kicks could do that!" The warlock frowned thoughtfully.

Felfe also frowned thoughtfully, and then figured he might as well kick the warlock anyway, to make up for it.

"Ow! Son of a –"

Felfe giggled slightly. Some people told him it was rather unconventional to use the kick ability like that, but… it worked so effectively. After all, nothing interrupted spell-casting like a swift kick to the goods. He had a feeling that cheap shot worked much the same way.

Uh oh. The warlock had regained feeling in his… uh… hands… and was now preparing to cast a worse spell, probably one that would hurt Felfe.

'_No, really?' _His mind commented, sarcasm heavy in its tone.

"Yeah, really!" Felfe shouted back at it.

The warlock looked at him with that look that was familiar by now. Obviously, he thought Felfe was crazy. Most people did. That usually happened when he talked out loud when no one had said anything.

With a roll of his eyes, the warlock finished casting the spell. Felfe had been incorrect. It was not a harming spell.

He was suddenly seized by a passionate desire to run around madly. He ran left, then right, then back, then forwards, all the while yelling profanities. He could dimly hear laughter through his panicked state – probably because his idea of profanities differed from everyone else's.

Suddenly the world came back into focus, and he saw the undead man doubled over in laughter.

"I've seen… a lot of different reactions… but that was the best so far…" He managed to get out between bursts of laughter. After a few moments he got himself under control, and wiped tears from his eyes. "That was just priceless."

Felfe growled at the warlock, not amused. The warlock grinned at him evilly.

"Well, you may be an interesting guy, but I'm still going to have to get rid of you." The warlock said, drawing on dark power, no doubt ready to cast a boatload of DoT's. They always did.

Sure enough, Felfe felt himself burning, literally burning, as flames rose up around him. The warlock made a couple more casting motions, and the pain built up quickly. The three damaging spells on him were quickly sapping his strength, and he found himself unable to do much about it.

Falling to his knees, Felfe gritted his teeth as the fires seared through him. At the same time, it felt like his body was in agony, what with the magic burning through his blood, corrupting everything it touched.

He collapsed, unable to move, unable to watch as the undead warlock was surely casting a few final shadowbolts.

'_Wow, so this is it. Well, it's better than falling off a cliff. At least I went down fighting. Sort of.' _His thoughts were almost disconnected from his body, unaware of the racking pain. His view was going blurry, and he felt his eyes close, though he had not meant to close them.

"Stop!" A voice shouted harshly.

He could not spare the strength to open his eyes.

* * *

Kain grasped the undead warlock by the front of his robes. The man squealed fearfully.

"He is under my protection. You will not harm him!" Those unwavering green eyes drilled into the empty holes that the warlock could, apparently, see out of. "Do you understand me?"

The warlock gulped, and nodded. Kain set him down, and he ran off whimpering, his imp making strange meeping sounds as accompaniment.

The blood-elf rushed to the fallen elf's side, turning him over onto his back and shaking him gently.

"Felfe!" There was a desperateness that seemed foreign in his voice, an underlying fear that he was trying to hide. "Felfe!"

The night-elf was de –

Definitely just barely alive. Definitely.

Kain glanced around quickly, eyes filled with some emotion so strong that it hurt to look at. He needed a healer. But no Horde could heal an Alliance member, or he would have done so immediately, being a paladin.

No, he had to find an Alliance healer, and fast. Quickly he took Felfe in his arms, and walked into the very middle of the battlefield, where Horde and Alliance alike were battling in the streets. When he had reached the chaos, he drew the Hungering Cold and held it aloft for all to see.

With a great crash he drove the mighty sword into the ground, right through the gray cobblestones.

"Cease fighting, at once!" He commanded in a yell, fierce green eyes directed at the mob that swirled around him.

In three seconds, every single Horde member had stopped in whatever position they had been in. There was a Tauren warrior sitting on a human mage, over there a Troll shaman appearing to hold a gnome rogue up by its hair, and more. Apparently every horde had been winning in their one-on-one battles, because no Alliance seemed to be still fighting, either.

"Lord Kain, why are you holding that night-elf?" An undead priest asked in confusion. The other Horde nodded and muttered at this sight.

"Silence. Bring me a healer of the Alliance." 'Lord' Kain hissed.

They obeyed at once. A tall, slouching troll rogue dragged a human girl dressed in white robes over to him. The girl stared at the blood-elf in fear, and then saw Felfe, which caused her to frown. No doubt she was wondering what was going on. They all were. In fact, some of the Horde seemed to be conversing with their captives as if over a cup of tea, asking them if they had any idea what was up.

The male troll looked at Felfe disbelievingly, but did not comment. "I brought da girl, bossman. She's a healin' one."

Kain shifted his gazed to the girl.

"Heal him." It was a command, which, followed up by the harshest glare, caused the priestess to squeak. She nodded quickly, though, and light glowed around her hands. There was no doubt who this 'him' was.

A fountain of light seemed to burst out of Felfe, and then faded. The priestess bowed shakily, still trembling. Kain sawed the burns heal themselves, the cuts disappear. That was enough. Every bruise left, every injury he could see. It was enough.

Kain nodded approval to the priestess. He then addressed the troll. "You must spare this one. Deliver her to the inn unharmed."

"Uh… Ja, mon. I'll do dat." The troll nodded, giving him a thumbs up.

Kain nodded, and suddenly remembered that the rest of the Horde were just standing (or in some cases, sitting) there, looking at him for further instructions. He paused, about to walk off into the distance.

"You can all go back to fighting now." As soon as the words left his lips, the Horde all started shouting again, battling as if they had not been treating the Alliance like friends just a few minutes ago.

Kain would have rolled his eyes, but he was much too worried about Felfe to care. Although he knew the elf was all right, he couldn't shake those feelings – or the thoughts. Those 'if' thoughts again, pestering him relentlessly. They reminded him that he had almost been too late. They nudged him into a string of thoughts, asking him what he would have done if he had been too late.

He must have held such a death glare while thinking of those things that the trees themselves withered before his eyes. No one wanted to be in the way of an angry blood-elf, certainly not one with as much power as Kain.

* * *

He carried Felfe all the way back to that same pool, close enough that they could return to Southshore eventually, but far enough that no one from the battle would be anywhere near them.

A few minutes passed after he set Felfe down on the grassy ground. He had been carefully washing the remaining dirt off of Felfe's face with a handkerchief – not his handkerchief, oh no, he was not one to carry handkerchiefs! – when the elf at last stirred.

"Ugh…" Felfe immediately attempted to sit up, and was pushed back down by Kain, who sat by his side. The pale elf's hand went to his forehead, and his eyes narrowed in what was probably pain.

Apparently, he did not take healing well.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Felfe groaned. Fortunately, he managed to avoid actually sicking up, but it was a close thing.

Kain resisted the urge to stroke Felfe's hair, like a worried mother hen – he'd never live it down if anyone saw him doing that – and instead took the other elf's hand.

Felfe looked at him in confusion, as if finally noticing that he was there.

"What happened?" He asked, speaking slowly.

"I would ask you the same question. What exactly were you doing out there?" Kain frowned. The expression was not directed at Felfe, of course, but he probably didn't know that.

"I heard… noises. Fighting. I was almost outside when I figured it was safer to stay in the inn." The night-elf said quietly.

"And why didn't you?" Kain questioned, eyes almost as fiercely gleaming as they had been when he had rescued the elf.

"I saw a little gnome girl run past, with a warlock chasing here. I had to… to do something." Felfe closed his eyes with a sigh.

Kain almost buried his head in his hands, but stopped himself. He regained his composure, staring straight into Felfe's eyes. "Must you always put yourself in those situations?"

Felfe didn't respond.

"You know how I feel about you, Felfe. I don't want you constantly getting yourself in danger. Do you know… do you know how I felt, standing there, seeing your body lying on the ground?" His eyes were sharp as daggers again, and he continued voicing his thoughts, pausing every so often to hold back what might have been tears. "I almost thought you weren't going to… It was so close. I don't want to lose you, do you understand!?"

The moon shined down, low on the horizon. Silence.

"I don't want to lose you…" Kain repeated in a low voice, kneeling beside the night-elf, his black hair hiding his face from certain angles.

A cricket chirped, and Kain nearly growled in frustration. The cricket had no right to interrupt his very emotional scene! No right at all!

The cricket, as if sensing the anger in the blood-elf, did not make another sound.

Kain turned his attention back to Felfe. The night-elf, his shining white hair parted to either side of his face, lying there so peacefully. His eyes were closed, and his chest gently rose and fell, almost as if-

"Damn it, he fell asleep." Kain muttered in exasperation. This time he did bury his head in his hands. "What timing…"

But still, exasperated or not, he still held an unshakeable fondness for the elf lying beside him. He was almost afraid that he loved him too much – it was unreasonable to hold something so close to his heart, especially something so easily broken.

'_But I won't let him break. Not while I still draw breath.' _He thought firmly.

He knelt there beside Felfe's sleeping figure the entire night. At least he could offer that much safety.

* * *

The next morning, after Kain was sure the battle was over, he decided to wake Felfe and take him back to Southshore. Along with a firm admonition to stay out of trouble.

However, waking Felfe was not as easy as he had thought it to be. It was nearly seven o' clock, after all. The night-elf should already have been up naturally by this time. He himself woke naturally at around six in the morning. And that was not mere boasting.

He crouched next to the sleeping elf, and gently shook him. Nothing happened. He shook him a bit more. Nothing again. He shook him quite roughly. Nothing yet again.

With a growl and a bit off curse, he sat down, wearing an expression that might be called a pout on other people. On Kain, it just looked sexy. Blood-elves, after all, were made for seduction.

'_I wonder what gnomes were made for, then...' _He thought dryly.

Telling himself that waking up an elf couldn't possibly be so difficult, he went back to his attempts. This time, he threw some water on Felfe's face. He gaped when nothing happened. Felfe didn't even twitch.

"That's ridiculous. Even if he was faking sleep, he wouldn't be able to pull it off that well." Kain muttered in annoyance.

He shook Felfe again to no avail. He then braided the elf's hair – a nice, thick, long braid – and left it hanging over Felfe's shoulder. No reaction, no stirring at all.

Felfe's hair actually looked quite nice braided, and he was surprised he had done such a good job. Of course, no one knew that he braided his own hair when he was alone. It was just something fun, something to take away boredom once in a while.

… But alas, he was forgetting his purpose.

"Wake up, damnit!" He growled. Felfe still didn't move.

He grabbed the elf's shoulders again, with the intent of shaking, them. But he suddenly stopped as his gaze fell on Felfe's face. He was pale, even for a night-elf, and with his delicate features he looked decidedly feminine. His eyes were closed, and he looked so very… alluring… sleeping like that.

Kain was leaning forward before he realized it. He stopped himself just a short way away from Felfe's face, asking himself what he thought he was doing. That was rather cheap, to kiss him while he was asleep. But then, he had tried to wake him before. It wasn't like he was trying to get him while he was unaware and hence vulnerable – well, okay, maybe it was like that… but surely it couldn't hurt. Just one kiss. Never hurt anybody.

He leaned in further, and pressed his lips to Felfe's, savoring the sweetness. His lips moved slowly, teasingly, over the night-elf's mouth, and then –

He was shoved onto the ground, with a definitely awake Felfe practically sitting on his stomach. Felfe, though his face was rather red, eyed him suspiciously, as if he had just declared that all blood-elves stole people's souls by kissing them.

Kain had done enough kissing in his life to know that that was not the case. Still, why was Felfe looking at him like he had done something wrong? He let himself be kissed when he was awake – well, yes, that was just once – so why was kissing him while he was asleep any different?

"At least you woke up." Kain said tiredly, suddenly aware that he had not slept that night.

Felfe frowned slightly, trying to figure out what he meant by that. "Huh?"

"I'm been trying to wake you for a while now." He replied, somewhat irritated by this turn of events. Those lips just felt too good. Any minute now he'd be taken by the urge to kiss the night-elf again, and who knew what would happen then.

"Oh. Sorry." Felfe frowned. "What time is it?"

"About eight o' clock."

"…"

"Is something wrong?"

Felfe was definitely frowning at him now. "Why did you wake me up at a time like this?"

"It's late in the morning, why shouldn't I?" Kain asked hesitantly. He had a strange feeling that Felfe wouldn't like his answer.

"You wouldn't understand." Felfe narrowed his eyes, and turned away from him. He sighed.

It was probably something to do with 'beauty sleep,' if Kain was not mistaken. Ah well, he wouldn't make this mistake again. Although those lips had tasted –

No! He couldn't think about things like that while Felfe was around.

… But unfortunately Felfe did not help his thoughts, as the night-elf suddenly turned around and walked back to him, now smiling.

Women always seemed to change moods so quickly… but of course Felfe wasn't a woman. Just 'like' a woman.

And that brought him back to the present, where Felfe stood before him, too close for comfort. Although the other elf probably didn't have a clue, his act of standing there, no more than a few inches away, sent Kain's thoughts into chaos, including the fact that he very much enjoyed – no! He couldn't think about that.

"Thanks for saving me yesterday. I know I wasn't thinking, and I should have just stayed in the inn. I'm sorry." Felfe looked up at him with pleading eyes, asking for forgiveness. Little did he know, Kain would forgive him no matter what he did.

And those eyes made him want to draw closer, so close that –

"You don't have to apologize." Kain said softly, cutting off the thoughts. "Please, just… be careful."

"I will." Felfe assured him. Then he frowned. That was a bad sign for Kain. "Say… what were you thinking, trying to… kiss me like that? It's really scary waking up and, well… I had no way of knowing it was you, being half-asleep."

Kain figured he wore a sheepish grin. All Felfe saw was the usual smirk. Which somehow caused him to blush and fumble his words.

"B-but that's not what I meant! I mean, just because it was y-you didn't mean I was okay with it or anything." There were spots of color on Felfe's cheeks.

And unfortunately, all this made the night-elf even more irresistibly cuter. Which was bad for Kain, because it was bad enough shutting out the voices in his head telling him to just hurry up and –

"I'm not mad at you, though." Felfe said as if to reassure him. Then he looked startled again. "Oh… maybe I should be…?" He looked terribly confused.

Kain was at the point of pouncing on Felfe – it was becoming difficult to control his actions.

He turned away from Felfe, pretending to be looking at the trees, or something stupid like that. He heard a soft footstep, and then slim arms wrapped around his waist, and Felfe apparently buried his face in the blood-red cape, nuzzling it like one would a pillow.

Kain almost jumped. He hadn't expected Felfe would do anything to make a move on him, certainly not! Surprising. Very surprising. But not unwelcome.

Kain sighed, and Felfe let go of him. Which almost made Kain sigh again, with regret. So he did the only thing he could.

He spun around, telling himself he was just going to hug Felfe, and ended up looking down into those glowing eyes. Bad position, really. Or perhaps it was good.

He leaned in a little farther, about to say something incredibly seductive, when he was interrupted.

"Kain, why are you looking at me like you want to eat me?" Felfe asked, looking uneasy.

Kain nearly buried his head in his hands again. Felfe probably was still thinking that Kain, being a blood-elf and a member of the Horde, was intent on ganking him. How pathetic. He still hadn't got it, after all this time…?

"It's okay, Felfe. I'm not going to eat you." Kain smiled, hoping it wasn't a predatory smile. By the way Felfe smiled back, he supposed it wasn't.

Seized by impulse, he drew Felfe into a hug, which the night-elf seemed to like quite a bit. He felt so warm, so… almost warm and fuzzy inside. It was a nice feeling. He just wished it could have lasted a bit longer.

As it was, Felfe pulled back after a while, and the warm and fuzzy feelings died away. What a shame.

"Kain…" Felfe started to speak, with a shy smile on his face. "There are good people and bad people in the World. I think… you're on of the good people."

And something tugged at Kain's heart, something he had never felt before, and he was reminded how much he loved Felfe – perhaps since the very first time he had seen him.

* * *

**_So, how is it so far? For some reason, this may seem like the last chapter. However, I can assure you that it is not. :P_**


	6. Chapter 6

**Reviewers: **Cookies for everyone! Woot!

**Random Notes: **It would be funny if blood-elves had a racial trait that acted like a succubus. Like, 'seduction,' or something.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Felfe walked into the meadow, glancing around curiously. The grass wasn't green, for some reason. It was blue. And the sky was red with weird yellow clouds. And… was that the moon? But the moon had never been that shade of magenta before…

'_This is a weird place,' _thought Felfe. Everything seemed upside-down, out-of-focus, or just plain weird.

A shape up ahead materialized, becoming a small gnome.

"Hey, can you tell me where this is?" Felfe called out.

The gnome jumped in surprise, saw him, and gave a yelp.

"No, wait, I'm not gonna hurt you or anything-" But it was too late, the gnome had transformed into lithe catlike beast and started running away, through the trees.

'_You'd better follow him if you want to find your way out of here.' _His mind advised.

Felfe usually ignored the voice, but this time it made some sense. Well, it couldn't hurt to follow the cat.

He sprinted to the place where the cat had disappeared, and gaped. A long, winding path led into a huge valley with trees bigger than most buildings. The grass changed color to deep purple, while the sky remained the same. The trees had yellow trunks and bubble-gum pink leaves.

"What an odd place…" Felfe mused, and then remembered what he was doing. He had to follow that cat! Though something was telling him that gnomes couldn't be druids…

He kept running until he reached the bottom of the path, where the dirt turned into grass. Okay, so no more path. Where was that cat? Nowhere in sight, now.

He felt horribly small in this place, where everything seemed larger than normal. Suddenly he noticed a huge form moving in the distance. He had thought it was a mountain, but…

"The cat!? But it was just a normal cat a moment ago…" He saved the confusion for later and kept on following the beast. It seemed to be making its way somewhere, as if for an appointment of some sort.

Abruptly the cat stopped and sniffed the air. The sky held more clouds than it had. Thunder suddenly boomed in the distance, causing Felfe to cower in fear. He had always been afraid of thunder storms, and he still was.

Any moment now, the cold rain would start pelting down, and… what? Something had just fallen on his back. And then another something. And another. But it wasn't wet, and it wasn't raindrops.

"Gumdrops?" Felfe said dubiously, picking the small round candy off the ground from where it had fallen. He examined it for a moment, and finally took a small bite. "Hey, yeah, it is a gumdrop!"

The world shifted as he swallowed.

"W-what's going on!?" He yelped as his vision spun.

And then he was standing in the valley, next to the druid cat. Wait… next to?

Somehow, he was the right size again. It must have been the gumdrop. What a strange dre-

Dre… what? Dre… what was a dre? Maybe, 'what a strange dreary place?' Yes, that was probably it.

The cat eyed him in irritation for a moment, and then gave a growl. Felfe backed up. The cat rolled its eyes at him ("The nerve!" Muttered Felfe.) and bounded across the land once more.

Soon enough they had reached a weird little town in the mountains. But it didn't have any buildings. What kind of town didn't have buildings? All the people just stood around as if wanting to give him quests. But of course, the quests wouldn't be his level, because…

Wait, how did he know that?

"Look, kid, I don't know why you're following me, but you're not supposed to be here." The gnome was a gnome again, and it was adjusting it's spectacle with something of a grimace on its face.

"What's that supposed to mean? I can go anywhere I want." Felfe declared stubbornly. This gnome was his ticket out of here. "Where are we, anyway?"

He didn't get an answer. The gnome darted into a cave and disappeared around the corner.

"Hey, wait!" Felfe said in annoyance. Jeez, ask someone a question nowadays and all you get is silence…

He ran into the cave, through the tunnel, until it widened into a large cavern. Crystals gleamed everywhere, greens, blues, yellows, and reds. The light they gave off mixed and gave birth to even more colors, all shining in the air.

And there was some sort of court set up here, with what looked like a judge behind a large desk. There weren't very many people, but those who were looked incredibly rich. Blood-elves, all of them, and each in their respective tier two sets.

"Whoa…" Felfe gaped. Maybe this was why the cat told him he didn't belong here. I mean, his clothes were-

His clothes were not his clothes! He could have sworn that he'd never put something like this on intentionally, at least not when other people were around to see, but…

He had to admit that they were lovely clothes. A light blue dress went only a little past his knees, and the blouse under it was white with puffy sleeves. He was wearing long white stockings paired with shiny black shoes that looked like a schoolgirl's. He also realized that he was wearing a cute little hairband with a bow on it.

"What in the world…" He was so shocked it almost wasn't funny. It was a good thing he had nice legs and looked enough like a girl to be mistaken for one, or there might have been some odd situations. Come to think of it, no one would believe him if he told them he was a man in these clothes.

Perhaps he'd just have to pretend. "Well, it's not like I've never wanted to dress like this, or anything." Felfe thought for a moment, and then shrugged.

"Order! Order in the king's court!" Shouted the judge, who was a tall, beared blood-elf with white hair.

All the other rich people seemed to quiet down, and they looked boredly in the general direction of the entrance. Felfe followed their gaze to see a man being lead in with a guard. He was probably being accused of something, so-

It was Kain. There was no mistaking that hair, that face, and more importantly the Hungering Cold at his hip. Felfe's mouth dropped open, and he closed it quickly. Girls certainly didn't let their mouths hang open like that, no indeed.

But Kain!? What was Kain doing here, as a criminal no less?

'_Perhaps if you watched the trial you would find out.' _That sarcastic voice in his head told him. Felfe was too anxious to be annoyed at the acidic tone.

"We bring this man before the king to be judged on his actions." Some sort of liveried servant spoke, and then blew a few discordant blasts into the brass trumpet he held. "Let the trial begin."

It was then that Felfe saw the 'king' referred to. It was an undead warlock, sitting on a velvet-covered chair with winged arms like a throne. But it wasn't just any undead warlock…

"You…" Felfe said in the most accusing tone he could manage with a hiss. But of course, the man didn't hear him. He hadn't meant him to.

Then he remembered that he was very afraid of this particular warlock, and he should probably leave this place before he was noticed. But that would probably attract attention – unwanted attention. And besides, he needed to find out why Kain was here!

"Well, well, well…" The warlock smiled evilly. "If it isn't my dear EX-COMMANDER Kain… How good to see you."

Felfe was more than a little shocked at the outright rudeness shown to Kain. He was the most powerful man of the Horde! How was it that he had been demoted like this?

"Make your decision, _please_." Kain said, still retaining his regal bearing despite the guards on either side of him, making sure he couldn't escape.

"Oh, don't worry – I made my decision ages ago." The warlock snickered. "Off with his head!"

The guards hurried to obey, but Felfe was furious.

"What do you think you're doing!?" The only night-elf in the audience screeched. "That wasn't a fair trial at all! You didn't even say what he did wrong!"

The rest of the elves gasped and edged away from Felfe, whispering among themselves and casting horrified glances at he who dared to speak.

"Oh really?" The warlock's eyes narrowed. "And who are you to challenge my power? AH. A night-elf. So you don't even belong here."

The crowd booed and glared at Felfe, making him realize the position he had put himself in.

"Oops." Was all he could say.

"The penalty for entering the king's court without suitable recommendation is DEATH." The king sneered. "Off with his head!"

"NO!" Felfe screamed.

The world went black.

* * *

Felfe woke up gasping, and sat up, rubbing his eyes. The room was completely dark.

"What in the world…" He muttered. "That was a weird dream…"

Thank goodness it had just been a dream! He hated to think how it would have ended…

Cold sweat soaked his clothes, making him feel incredibly disgusting. He would have to take a bath. Well, he needed to wash his hair anyway, so…

There wasn't a tub in his room. In fact, all he saw was a small bucket of water and a bar of soap. This inn sure was welcoming. Well, there was no way he could bathe in that. All his hair wouldn't even fit into the bucket at the same time!

"I'll have to go bathe in the river again…" Felfe sighed.

* * *

It was only a short time after midnight when Felfe set out from the inn, walking out of Southshore and turn right onto the familiar stony path. He figured he might as well go to the river at the place where it was farthest from the town.

"You never know who's watching, after all." He said quietly.

As he strode along the path, three dark shapes materialized ahead of him. They appeared to be walking in the opposite direction he was.

Felfe slowed his walk, wondering if these were monsters or… or… or something else. He prepared to bolt in the case that they were unfriendly. But of course, 'innocent until proven guilty' still held. So far.

The shapes came closer, stopped, and motioned to each other, then stepped into Felfe's view. They were not monsters. But they were not human either.

A female blood-elf priest played with her nails as if bored. "Look, it's a little night-elf." She said sarcastically. Felfe froze. They didn't sound friendly.

"Hey mon, dat's not jus' an elf, dat's FELFE." A male troll rogue pointed out. Felfe heard a couple of gasps – one from the blood-elf and one from the undead warlock on the other side of the troll.

Wait… undead warlock? No, it couldn't be – not the exact same warlock! But it was.

"N-no… please don't… I don't wanna die like this!" Felfe paled, backing up. He felt very… spacy… suddenly. His head swam and his vision blurred.

'_Felfe, there's such a thing called 'breathing.' I think you should invest in it.' _His mind reminded him. But it was too late.

"He looks like he's gonna faint-" Came the voice of the priest.

And that was all he heard before the world went black again.

* * *

Felfe sat up, rubbing his head. What a major headache.

He was laying on the ground beside a campfire, where a troll and a blood-elf sat.

"Sorry mon, I barely caught ya before ya hit da ground." The troll apologized sheepishly. "Da name's Yekkinji, by da way. Nice to meet ya."

"I-I'm Felfe." Felfe provided, still not really there.

"We know that, silly." The priest giggled. "Everyone knows that."

"But why?" Felfe wondered aloud. "Why do you all know my name?"

"Lord Kain told everyone to take special care not to hurt you. He even told us he'd demote our mains in his raiding guild if we so much as teased you. I think he's waaay too serious sometimes." The blonde girl explained.

"Can I come out now?" A soft voice called out.

"I guess." The priest said. "I just hope he doesn't faint again."

The blood drained out of Felfe's face again, and the two by his side attempted to make hasty explanations in order to calm him.

"It's okay, he's not gonna hurt you."

"Ja, mon, I dunno why you be so scared bout him? He justa warlock."

Felfe sat up, seeing the thin, dark form walk back to the fire. The warlock was definitely the same one – same robes, same hair hanging in front of his eyes – everything. The only comforting thing was that he had no minion at the present time.

"I don't think he likes me." The undead guy said softly, looking at the ground in an unsuccessful attempt to hide his sad face.

Felfe blinked. "W-what?"

The warlock looked up. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"Because! Y-y-you almost killed me y-yesterday!" Felfe stuttered. "And… and…"

"And?" The priest nudged.

"And… um… I had a scary dream about you last night, too." Felfe admitted, looking away. That had sounded really pathetic. Like he was a little kid or something.

"I'm sorry." The warlock apologized, looking completely sincere.

"Really?" Felfe asked, more because he didn't know what to say than anything.

"Yeah. It was… kinda a weird day for me. I'm not usually all destructive like that." The robed undead explained.

"Oh." Was all Felfe could manage to say. "Well, it's okay… no harm done I guess."

The warlock smiled slightly, looking shy. Which was a strange look on an undead guy. "That's good. So can we be friends?"

"Um… I guess so." Felfe nodded uneasily. He'd never had a friend before, never mind one on a different side of the war.

The warlock nodded back at him somewhat sleepily, and then stretched himself out on the other side of the fire, saying nothing more. Awkward.

"Don't worry, he's always like that." The priestess lady said, smiling with perfectly white teeth. "I'm Maren, by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Felfe said out of habit. But he remembered not to give his name this time.

"And the warlock is Temarr. He's always sleepy like that, ever since he got that succubus." Maren, apparently, loved to talk. And gossip counted as talk.

"Why? What does a succubus have to do with it?" Felfe asked, puzzled.

"Well you see, she seems to really like him. Like, too much. Every night, she handcuffs him and chains him to that inn bed-" Yekkinji muffled the rest of the sentence by slapping a large hand over the girl's mouth, which kept moving regardless.

"Too much info, mon."

"Chains? Why…" Felfe trailed off as he caught all three staring at him. "Well, why would she do that?"

The horde members gaped.

"What, did I say something wrong?"

A cricket chirped in the distance as the priest, rogue, and warlock tried to regain their lost dignity.

"Not exactly, but…" Maren gave a knowing look to Yekkinji, and the two whispered to each other. Unfortunately, due to his elf-ears Felfe heard basically the whole conversation.

"He doesn't seem like the type of guy Kain normally goes after… I don't think he even realizes… yeah… Think we should warn him? No, Kain, not Felfe… I mean, we all know Kain loves that kind of stuff, so… Yeah, wouldn't be great if… Yeah we should…"

"Um… I can hear you." Felfe said hesitantly, his face slightly red. Whatever they were talking about, it had something to do with him and Kain. If only he understood more than half of each sentence…

"Oh…"

"Righto…"

The two made their way back to the fire.

"So what were the chains for?" Felfe asked once more. _'And the handcuffs?'_

Temarr buried his face in his hands in exasperation.

"Look, mon, you dun need to know if ya dunno already." Yekkinji said a bit too casually. "It be nothin' important anyways."

"Okay." Felfe said, and left it at that.

A few minutes passed while the other cooked various meats over the fire. Felfe finally mustered up the courage to ask another question.

"Uh… what are you guys doing out at this time of the night?"

"We're going to Shadowfang Keep!" Maren squealed. "With a group! Ooh, it's going to be sooooo exciting!"

"Shut up, mon, you be scarin' him again." Yekkinji scolded. But Felfe was pretty sure it was an excuse to not have to listen to that annoying voice more.

"Fine." Maren scowled.

"What are you doing, Felfe?" Temarr asked nonchalantly. "Filling out map pieces?"

The other snickered, though Felfe wasn't sure why.

"No, I was going to the river." Felfe answered, leaving out the part about bathing. He didn't really like handing out information like that. Besides, it was slightly… embarrassing.

"Why?" Maren asked curiously.

"I bet he's going to sit on the riverbank and write poems to Lord Kain. That's what I'd do if I went to the river." Temarr said, indeed sounding spacy.

"You'd write love poems to Kain?" Maren raised an eyebrow. "You?"

"No, I'd just write normal poems." Temarr smiled slightly as he talked. "You know, about stuff like death… pain… suffering… and all that."

Felfe stared blatantly at the warlock.

"Don't worry, he's always like this." Maren said for the second time. "So anyway, why are you going to the river? I mean, if you aren't actually writing poems to Kain…"

Oh. Well. It looked like he was going to have to confess anyway. "Oh, just to take a bath."

The others stared at him.

"All they had in the inn room was this bucket of water and some soap!" Felfe complained. "So I figured I might as well… yeah."

"Um, I tink dat bucket's for washin yer face, mon." Yekkinji pointed out, much to Felfe's humiliation.

"Oh."

But Maren didn't seem to be listening any longer. Her eyes had a decidedly evil sparkle to them. It was rather scary.

"Are you okay?" Felfe asked her. She grinned at him.

"Yeah, just peachy!" She grinned ever wider. Felfe shifted uneasily. "Well guys, look at the time! We'd better get going to that instance, or we won't finish it in time to get a good night's rest!"

The other two rolled their eyes at her behind her back. All three said their goodbyes, and Felfe went on his way to the stream.

As soon as Felfe was definitely not in hearing distance, the group started talking again.

"Do you think he realizes that Kain follows him everywhere?" Maren giggled. "That will be an interesting scene."

"You be too gross, mon. I no wanna hear 'bout all dis 'man-lovin' you talkin' 'bout. Nope." Yekkinji looked thoroughly disgusted.

Temarr, on the other hand, looked mildly interested. "I wonder what's gonna happen…"

"Well, judging by Felfe's 'innocence' I doubt it has anything to do with chains and handcuffs. So it's probably nothing to interest you." Maren mused.

Temarr looked slightly let-down.

"Unless…" Her eyes brightened.

"Unless what?" Temarr asked. "Huh?"

"I have an idea." She grinned evilly.

The other two listened as she outlined her plan.

* * *

Felfe finished washing his hair in the stream, and waded to the bank to retrieve the towel. He squeezed the wetness out of his hair, and then stepped out of the water to tie another towel around his waste as he dried off.

Kain stood with his back to a tree, politely not watching as the other elf dried himself off. After all, he had more refinement than to actually watch like some sort of… pervert.

The sounds stopped, and Kain chanced a look. Yes, Felfe was fully clothed now. Good. He stepped out of the trees to where Felfe was standing by the stream, looking the other direction.

'_Perhaps I'll sneak up on him this time. Just for fun.' _He thought with a smirk.

"Hello, Kain." Came Felfe's voice.

Kain had to stop himself from leaping into the air. How had Felfe known he was there? Oh no, this was bad. _'What if he thinks I was watching him the entire time? That would be-"_

He was interrupted by Felfe, who rose to his feet and walked over. Felfe, who was standing just a bit closer than usual. Was that a hint of a smirk on the night-elf's face? No, it couldn't be. He was just imagining it, what with the dim lighting and everything.

He nodded to Felfe, kind of a rude greeting, but he was a little confused.

"I don't suppose…" Felfe came closer, snaking an arm around his waist. "… you carry handcuffs around in your inventory?"

Kain gaped – the first time in centuries – and blushed – also the first time in centuries. "W-what do you mean?"

There was definitely something wrong with Felfe.

"I think you know exactly what I mean." Felfe whispered silkily, looking Kain directly in the eyes. That determined look… it was familiar.

Kain saw that look all the time, whenever someone attempted to seduce him. Which happened a lot. But… why Felfe? Such behavior was, of course, inherent in the nature of blood-elves, but night-elves? They were nature-lovers, hippies, not people skilled in the subtle arts like blood-elves…

"You are not yourself, Felfe." Kain spoke at last, prying the arm from around him and gently shoving Felfe farther away from him. "There's something… wrong with you."

Felfe looked at him with a hurt look. "What do you mean? I suddenly decide to show my feelings and you don't like it? Do you… do you not like me?"

Were those tears? Yes, yes they were.

Kain was in a very delicate situation. Very delicate indeed. One wrong step, and…

"Of course I do." Kain said softly. This made Felfe brighten considerably, and he practically waltzed back up to Kain.

"Then why are you pushing me away?" Felfe teased, smiling. "I think, perhaps, that there's something wrong with _you_."

Kain considered the possibility, and then shook his head slowly. "I… I don't know."

He felt like himself. He hadn't had anything to drink recently, nothing mind-altering, no magic abuse… nothing. So there couldn't be anything wrong with him, could there?

"Well, that's not a very good answer." Felfe _did _smirk this time. And he leaned up towards Kain, standing on the tips of his feet. "Want me to give you a better one?"

Kain nodded hesitantly, thinking Felfe was going to tell him something important, something that would change everything so he could understand just what was going on.

Soft lips met his, and for a few moments he forgot everything else.

'_I had no idea Felfe could kiss like this… I don't think he's kissed anyone in his life!' _Stray thoughts, thoughts of no importance. But the doubt… the doubt tainted him. He should be rid of the doubt.

And yet it nagged at him. Something was very wrong here. Felfe was not like this. But this was Felfe.

He pulled away from the kiss, frowning slightly. It couldn't be that Felfe was drunk – he hadn't tasted anything like that – and the possibility of Felfe abusing magic was less than none, since he was a rogue and technically didn't even have magic.

But it seemed like something was controlling him, as if an evil spirit possessed him and was making him do things he wouldn't normally do. Like some weird voodoo or…

"Mind control." Kain hissed. "MIND CONTROL!"

Felfe backed up, startled, and then suddenly closed his eyes and fell back onto the grass. The mind control had been cut off.

"You dare do something like this… show your face and I shall give you my wrath!" Kain snarled. His eyes searched the trees all around them, but he couldn't see anything. Wait! There was a small piece of green lettering on the other side of the river. It had the be the culprit.

Kain ran fast enough to only catch the shadows of the ones who had betrayed him before they hearthstoned. He cursed and made his way back to the river. Felfe would probably be expecting some answers.

Kain helped Felfe sit up, and noticed the other elf clutching his head.

"I have such a bad headache! Ugh…" Then Felfe glanced up to see him. "Kain! What are you doing here?"

"I've been here for a while, Felfe."

"Y-you weren't… watching me, or something, were you?" Felfe's eyes widened.

"No, of course not." Kain said gently. As gently as he could manage.

Felfe winced. Not gently enough. "W-what happened? You look angry. What it something I did?" He looked genuinely confused.

"It wasn't your fault. Someone mind-controlled you, and had me fooled for a few minutes." Kain explained.

Felfe gasped. "What did they make me do?"

Kain fell silent.

"It was that bad, huh?" Felfe looked astonished. "I-I'm sorry…"

"I told you, it's not your fault." Kain said once again. "Besides, it wasn't… it wasn't that bad."

Felfe looked puzzled. "What did I do?"

"Nothing much. Just the same old thing I go through every day with certain… people… who attempt to gain my favor."

"I groveled and begged?" Felfe asked. "That's kinda weird…"

"No, no, nothing like that." Kain said with a sigh.

"Then what-"

"We shall not talk of it." Kain said firmly, and that was the end of that.

A few awkward moments passed, and then Felfe remembered something that he had been curious about.

"Kain, what do people do with chains and handcuffs?" He asked innocently.

Kain gaped. That made the second time today. But why would Felfe ask about something like that? Something… that almost hinted at the mind-controlled situation. As well as reminding him of some scenes from his past. Some very… interesting scenes.

"Well… hmmm… chains… ummm…" Kain made a great show of stalling for time. "It's difficult to explain." But of course that was not enough for Felfe to drop the question.

"Maybe you could draw a picture of it?" He suggested.

Kain coughed. "No, no I don't think I could. I'm horrible at drawing, you know."

Felfe nodded, convinced. "Well, then… could you show me?"

Kain felt his face burn, which was probably what made Felfe look at him oddly. After all, completely dignified blood-elves did not usually blush like little girls. Not usually.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Are you gonna show me?"

"I… I guess so…" Kain conceded. _'Well, I don't have to actually do anything to him. Just… hint at it until he gets the picture. Or something like that. Although, knowing him, it will take forever for him to understand…'_

He reached around in his inventory and finally grasped a pair of handcuffs. He pulled them out of the hidden pockets and showed them to Felfe. Felfe stared blankly.

"You keep handcuffs in your pocket? Why?"

"No reason." Kain answered smoothly. "Anyhow… this is what people usually… use them for."

He held Felfe's hands over his head and locked the handcuffs into place. Felfe looked at him like he had just declared the World to be round. Which everyone knew it wasn't.

"W-what? You mean…" Felfe frowned. "I don't understand."

Kain frowned as well, knowing that he wouldn't get off without giving a full explanation now. He shifted, forcing Felfe to lie completely back on the grass, with Kain more-or-less on top of him. Felfe looked even more confused.

"Huh?" He asked eloquently.

Kain rolled his eyes. "Look, handcuffs are…" He started to say.

"Oh… I think I understand now!" Felfe said suddenly. "They're used to take people prisoner!"

Kain sighed.

"No, Felfe, they aren't. Well, they are, but… not in this context. The… alternative… way that they're used for-"

Felfe was struggling, apparently attempting to get out of the handcuffs. "They won't come off!" He exclaimed, looking horrified.

"Of course they're not supposed to come off." Kain rolled his eyes. "You need the key to unlock them."

"Where's the key?" Felfe asked.

"…"

"Well?"

"I… don't know…"

"KAIN!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Who goes around carrying handcuffs but no key!?"

"What, can't you pick the lock? You _are _a rogue!"

"I don't have enough skill!"

"Liar, I bet you never even did the quest!"

"What are you trying to say!?"

"What does it sound like I'm saying!?"

After a few more minutes of such nonsense, the two both came to their senses (somewhat) and realized that they were still in a rather compromising position. Felfe finally gave up on trying to figure out how to get out of the handcuffs.

"… You never did tell me what these were for, did you?" Felfe finally remembered.

Kain, irritated by now, said it as plainly as possible. "They're for )$."

"WHAT!?"

"You asked, Felfe. You asked." Kain sighed.

"And what are you still doing _on top of me?_" Felfe hissed. "Just get off!"

Felfe's hair was getting in his face, and his eyes glowed angrily in the semi-darkness. His expression of annoyance looked far too familiar to Kain. That face… those handcuffs…

He told himself that doing such a thing would solve nothing. Felfe would most likely become even more angry at him. But then again… Felfe couldn't really go anywhere – or protest – in handcuffs. That was the idea, after all. And what an idea, hmm?

Kain leaned down to kiss Felfe, ignoring the muffled gasp and renewed struggling. Struggling which, unfortunately (or fortunately) was impeded by the handcuffs which had caused it all. Felfe was, it seemed, helpless.

Deliciously helpless.

* * *

_**Lol, I swear that's as far as it went! XD**_

_**You likey? I hope so.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Reviewers: **Cookies for everyone! Again!

**Random Notes: **Interesting… the story is going in a direction I never suspected… I may have to write a sequel. Yessssss.

**EDIT: **Yuren now has a lower jaw. Sorry about the confusion!

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

****

Felfe stood, brushing his clothes off, and looked around. He was in a forest, probably somewhere near Southshore. It was a familiar place, and he knew it immediately. This was where he had first met Kain. If it could be called a meeting.

He couldn't remember what had happened before he found himself here, waking up on the ground and quite disoriented. Whenever he tried to grasp those memories they slipped away, or seemed too fuzzy to make out.

A sense of wistfulness arose in him suddenly, and he wondered why. What had happened before this? He struggled to recall, but once again it was hard to hold onto the memories, and they flitted away, free and taunting him.

He shook his head and sighed. Then he looked up.

It was Kain.

The blood-elf stood there, facing the other direction. His long, crimson cape pointed him out immediately, as did the Hungering Cold belted to his waist. Felfe stood there, in the same spot he had first seen the other elf, unable to move.

He didn't think he would have moved if he could have. Something about Kain enticed him, and he wished he could gaze forever upon the blood-elf unnoticed. But of course that was not how the first meeting had gone, and this was no different.

Kain turned around, and looked straight into his eyes. Felfe suddenly felt the urge to stealth and hide behind a nearby tree. Why would he do that? Kain was his friend – or something like that.

"K-Kain." Felfe stuttered, trying to figure out his sudden uneasiness.

"Felfe." His name on the other's lips always sounded like that – captivating, smooth, oddly familiar – and this time was no different.

"What are you doing here?" Felfe asked, desperately hoping to uncover some of the memories from before he woke.

"I wanted to see you." Kain said softly, coming closer.

Felfe's thoughts took this as a cue to run madly in all directions. His face felt like it was about to burn off.

'_So why do I feel so angry at him?' _He wondered, puzzled. What could possibly make him angry with Kain, anyway? Nothing that he could remember.

Kain was too close, close enough that Felfe unconsciously moved backwards, and ended up with his back to a tree. It was the same tree as the first time. The first time? Why could he remember his first meeting with Kain, but not anything else?

Kain made up for the motion by moving closer to Felfe yet again. He had an odd look in his eyes – fiery and decidedly determined. Felfe knew what this look usually meant, having seen it on most of the people who had tried to seduce him, thinking he was a woman. But why did Kain look like that?

Kain hands were cupping his face, suddenly, and all the breath went out of him. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get much of it back before Kain's lips were on his, cutting off further air supply.

When he was finally released, he gasped for breath. And then he wondered why he hadn't protested. And then he wondered why he was wondering why he hadn't protested. _'It's not like I usually protest, right?' _

Kain's expression tugged at his memory, like something important was hidden in that gaze. Those vivid green eyes were not looking at him. They were seeing something else, as if staring into the past. That small smile was not… right…

Almost as if Kain was remembering something… someone…

A picture of handcuffs leapt into his mind, scattering the rest of the half-formed thoughts. And it all came rushing back to him. That look was the same one he had seen when Kain kissed him the day before, though he had struggled enough to let him know it was unwanted. Those handcuffs reminded him of the burning anger inside him, and the fact that its cause was staring him right in the face.

He struggled to get out of the blood-elf's grasp, but suddenly there were chains on the tree – chains that had certainly not been there a moment before. And handcuffs, too. Handcuffs that locked him in place no matter how much he twisted.

That hidden smile of Kain's was enough to make him scream. This wasn't right at all – he wasn't the one Kain was remembering fondly, gazing at as if lost in the past. It was all wrong, so very wrong…

* * *

Felfe woke from the nightmare gasping for breath, cursing the day he ever laid eyes on Kain. That… that man had no right to do such things to him! No right at all.

And the events from yesterday, that same look in his eyes – that had been real, at least. He knew Kain had been somewhere else, but this clarified things in a way that Felfe couldn't have expected. Somehow he knew that Kain had been seeing something else in that dream, and yesterday the same way.

And then he realized what that meant. _'Am I… just a replacement?'_

_Replacement… replacement… replacement…_

The word echoed in his mind until he shook his head frantically, trying to make it go away. It persisted, and tears started to roll down his face. He stuffed his face into the pillow, willing the words to leave him alone.

'_So, Kain just thinks I'm his new toy, or something like that. That's why those horde people kept looking at each other like that – like they knew something I didn't. And that's what they were talking about, when they thought I couldn't hear. I'm the one Kain chose 'this time.' The one that isn't like the others… but it seems like he wants me to be like them.'_

His body shook, despite the fact that he was trying very hard not to cry. It wasn't easy to face the facts at a time like this – not with the kind of pathetic past he tried not to remember. He didn't even care that his pale white hair was messed up and tangled. Not at a time like this.

Kain hadn't really liked him. It should have been obvious from the very first day. He was just 'a pretty face,' another trophy to carry around. But Felfe had been so convinced, so sure that Kain had liked him simply for being himself. And that was where it went wrong.

He supposed that it made sense, now, looking back. Kain had saved him in order to make sure he was unharmed because a broken toy was a useless one. All those times he had seemed kind were just acts, ways to make sure he never guessed the true purpose. Maybe that day in Southshore where he almost died was a set-up. It wouldn't have been that difficult for Kain to gather up horde to raid the town, and give them instructions just to 'almost kill' some hopeless night-elf.

The truth stared him in the face, and it taunted him now that he had finally realized it was there.

_Replacement… replacement… replacement…_

He put his hands over his ears, but the words were inside his head, and they did not stop.

_No one has ever liked you, and no one ever will…_

He drifted back to sleep that night clutching his pillow like it was the only thing that could save him.

* * *

Thirty-nine horde members stood before the huge, oaken doors, every one of them in full tier two. They looked at each other uneasily, sharing looks of slight frustration. Most of them were about ready to throw themselves off a cliff or two.

Those doors had not opened for three days. No one had gone in or out. So naturally, everyone was getting just a bit worried. After all, if no one had gone in or out, it was possible that Lord Kain hadn't eaten anything for three days. Which meant he might be nearing death. Or already dead.

"I be almost ready to break da door down, mon…" A troll hunter said under his breath. The blood-elf hunter next to him nodded in agreement. As did all other members of what was supposed to be the AQ40 raid.

Obviously, the missing member was very important indeed.

"Do you think we should just… go in there?" A tauren shaman said worriedly. "For all we know, he could need our help."

No one bothered to ask what Lord Kain could possibly need their help with – the possibilities were endless, each one more morbid than the last.

"All right, it's two o' clock now. As second in command of the raid, I'm responsible. So I'm going to go in and see if I can bring him to his senses." The undead warrior – Yuren – announced, trying to hide a grimace.

The undead warrior quietly pushed the oaken door inward, peeking inside Lord Kain's private residence for some sign of life. He took a last look at the raid team, saluted, and stepped inside. The door closed behind him.

The whole team shifted uneasily, rogues and priests alike muttered to themselves and checked and rechecked their inventories for the necessary items. But of course that was not what their minds were on.

"I hope the raid goes well." A blood-elf rogue said, just loud enough for the whole group to hear.

Everyone knew he wasn't talking about the raid.

* * *

Yuren padded silently through the estate, checking a room here, a room there, and making sure he looked behind every single door. He was going to find Lord Kain, and he was going to figure out just what was going on.

'_I mean really, the guy hasn't been late for a raid in his life! What could be keeping him? Not to mention the fact that he hasn't been seen for days…'_

There really were too many rooms here. Lord Kain probably only used a couple of them, judging by the immaculate cleanness of most of the rooms – excepting the fine sheen of dust on all the furniture.

After fifteen minutes had passed, Yuren had searched all the rooms except one – the master bedroom. He hoped that if Lord Kain was in there, he'd be forgiving enough not to have his second in command kicked from the guild as soon as he saw him. After all, no one had any real permission to go into Lord Kain's estate…

There he was. Sprawled on the bed half-dressed, looking at the ceiling like it held the answers the life's problems. His eyes were looking elsewhere, inward rather than outward, and he looked so disheveled that Yuren almost didn't believe it _was _Lord Kain for a moment.

'_This is it – the moment of truth. I hope he's not asleep…'_

"Lord Kain." It was the quietest of whispers, barely making any noise at all. But if Lord Kain was awake, he would hear it. Blood-elf ears were like that.

"What?" Came the hesitant reply. Kain did not moved an inch, still staring forlornly at the ceiling.

Yuren's mouth dropped open. He had never seen his guild master like this before. The Lord Kain everyone knew was perfectly composed, always ready for anything. But there was no mistaking that the man lying on the bed was him.

"Is… is something wrong?" Yuren squeaked. If he was alive, he would have been sweating. Although technically he was alive… sort of. But then he was also sort of dead. No, no, that wasn't right. He was _undead_. Which meant he was alive. But he wasn't alive, so he had to be…

"What do you think, Yuren?" Lord Kain actually rolled his eyes, still not even sitting up on the bed.

"Yes, I'd say there's something wrong." Yuren said slowly, carefully.

"Right you are. I should have you promoted for that." Lord Kain was being sarcastic now. Very sarcastic. There was definitely something wrong.

"Lord Kain, there's nowhere to promote me to. I'm your second-in-command."

"Oh, yes. You're right." Lord Kain muttered, finally sitting up, and fixing Yuren with an almost uncaring expression. "Why are you here?" He asked it like he didn't even need to hear the answer.

"The AQ40 raid is tonight, Lord Kain." Yuren tried to sound like this was important, and failed.

"And?" Lord Kain had always had a way of seeing through people's lies. Like magic.

"And everyone has been very concerned for you… lately." Yuren admitted, gulping.

"And why is that…?" Kain had managed to slip a shirt on, and was now, apparently, searching for the rest of his armor.

"Forgive me if I am being frank, milord, but your haven't been out of your quarters for three days." Yuren wrung his hands, attempting to look as subservient as possible.

"Three days?" Kain mused. "Three days…"

Yuren winced. So Lord Kain didn't even know how long he had been in here. That made everything so much worse than it already was.

"Lord Kain, everyone was wondering…" He posed the question most relevant to the members' thoughts. "… if you had been eating?"

Kain turned around to face his second-in-command, his face perfect stone. All his armor was in place, and for all his disheveledness earlier, he looked impeccably clean. As always.

So, he was just going to pretend nothing had happened? Well, there was nothing Yuren could do about it. Lord Kain did not answer the question, and merely swept out of the room ahead of him.

Apparently, the raid was still on.

* * *

Felfe had been awake for a good few hours, but he still wanted nothing more than to lay on the inn bed and feel sorry for himself. Which was exactly what he was doing. Interestingly, though, his thoughts had taken a turn towards anger at Kain, instead of just the usual self-pity ones.

In fact, if he had seen Kain at that instant he probably would have slapped him. Hard. And for good reason.

Felfe growled to himself, ignoring his mind's persistent talking. The voice in his head had been telling him all sorts of things since he woke up in the morning, things that didn't even make sense.

'_I am making as much sense as I can, you moron!' _It hissed at him.

'_See if I care.' _Felfe narrowed his eyes.

'_For the thousandth time, Felfe, it's not that bad! Stop wallowing in self-pity and do something about it!' _

'_Like what? Walk up to Kain like a nice little puppy and say 'I'm sorry, Master, I was a bad little doggie?'' _

'_Stop being so self-centered for a moment and think about it. This doesn't even have to do with you.'_

'_Of course it has to do with me! What are you saying!?'_

'_First of all, Kain probably just slipped up for a moment there. It's not like he did something horrible. Everyone makes mistakes.'_

'_Oh, so now you're on his side. Great.'_

'_Felfe, this isn't about sides. You're being an immature brat.'_

'_Wait, I remembered – you were always on his side, weren't you?'_

'_FELFE.'_

'_You're angry because I'm right.'_

'_No, I'm angry because you're stupid.'_

'…'

'_Listen. So Kain made a mistake, right? Big deal. And you got upset over it. Which is only natural, of course. This would be a thing of the past right now if you hadn't had that stupid dream.'_

'…'

'_The dream didn't actually happen. You can't blame Kain for what he did _in a dream_!'_

'_Watch me.'_

'_Oh, you be quiet! Anyway, that dream caused you to think about things differently, which made you get this lousy idea into your head that you're just another one of his toys, or something like that.'_

'_I am! I mean, I was. Not anymore.'_

'_No, you're not. Just because you've realized that he's had other relationships doesn't mean he's horrible. Most people do have more than one lover before they find the right one.'_

'_You're just trying to make me feel better.'_

'_Now, when have I ever done that? I'm simply getting logic through your thick head.'_

'…'

'_Bet that made you feel better.'_

'_You know, I don't have to listen to you.'_

'_Yes, you do. So, what I'm saying is that you should just let Kain apologize, or give some kind of explanation. It's not like he wanted to make you angry.'_

'…_Hmmph.'_

'_And if he doesn't apologize, then that's a really good reason to have nothing to do with him. Savvy?'_

'_Whatever.'_

'_And you should probably get out of bed. You're wasting time.'_

Felfe scowled, but followed the voice's instructions. After all, he hadn't gone to Silverpine Forest yet, and he wanted to sneak a look at Shadowfang Keep. The innkeeper had made it sound pretty interesting.

* * *

Felfe supposed the only reason he actually made it through Silverpine Forest was due to Kain's 'decree' or whatever it was. The few groups of horde he saw all paid no mind to him. But there was a weird expression on all their faces, like they didn't like him.

Which was ridiculous, because what could Felfe have possibly done to make them dislike him?

Well, there it was. Shadowfang Keep. He ran up to the bridge before the instance, taking in the view. It was big, and kind of dark. The old castle looked like it had been abandoned for ages, and yet it seemed evil.

That made sense, since there had to be monsters in there. Still, it looked like an interesting place. Maybe he could try getting a group later. Except for the fact that he hated groups…

* * *

A troll mage ran up the path to Shadowfang Keep. His group would be there soon – probably. Except that most of them didn't have the flightpath to the Sepulcher yet. Which might take a while.

Up ahead he saw a night-elf on the bridge, apparently surveying the Keep from afar. He wasn't really sure what gender the night-elf was, but at the moment he was going to go with 'female.'

At least, it looked like a female… almost. He scratched his head, confused. But that didn't make sense… most females had certain… extensions… which the night-elf was clearly lacking. So it was a male?

Suddenly he spotted a mounted alliance member speeding up the path. It was a dwarf, all decked out in farming gear, riding a red ram.

Personally, the mage figured farming clothes were supposed to be good equipment, but this particular 'farmer' had taken it literally and was dressed in overalls and a straw hat. Odd. What was more odd was that the night-elf… guy… wasn't moving. Almost as if he didn't see the dwarf coming-

"$, mon!"

That dwarf had been drinking, clearly, and was racing to the instance, unaware of the night-elf standing directly in his path. The night-elf stood there, just as unaware of the ram barreling towards him at full speed.

The troll fretted, wondering what he could do. The ram came closer, and the night-elf was still unconscious of the impending doom.

Just as the ram was about to run over the night-elf, the troll mage did what all mages do instinctively when they sense danger.

He blinked.

Midway through the blink he must have made a mistake, because he wasn't supposed to be semi-solid at that point. Whatever happened, though, was obviously good, because he ended up pushing the night-elf out of harm's way, with both of them safe at the other side of the road.

The troll brushed off his robes, trying to regain his breath. He almost had seen his life flash before his eyes, there. Scary.

… Oops. The night-elf looked like he was waiting for some kind of explanation. Wait, no, he wasn't. Now came the look of dawning realization as he caught a glimpse of the mounted dwarf heading into the instance. And then a look of extreme gratitude.

"Thanks for saving me." The night-elf said, and smiled at him.

"N-no… no problem, mon." The troll mage said, still out of breath. Near-death experiences always exhausted him like this. "Nice to meetcha." He extended a shaky hand, which the night-elf shook happily.

"You probably already know my name, so I won't bother introducing myself." The night-elf said, looking a bit sad suddenly.

The troll blinked. "I was 'bout to say da same ting."

"Really?" Felfe looked surprised. "I don't know your name, though. But are you sure you don't know who I am?"

"Uh… nope. Sorry." Guanji scratched his head. "What, I know joo from somewhere or someting?"

"I'm Felfe." The elf said slowly, as if he was sure that would make a difference. "I can't believe you don't know my name."

"Should I?" Guanji frowned thoughtfully, but he couldn't recall anything.

"Maybe. I mean, most of the people on the horde side know me on sight, so…"

"Joo be a wanted criminal!?"

"No, no!" Felfe said frantically, trying to calm down the troll, who was blinking in random directions. "I'm… uhhh…"

The night-elf paused, as if he didn't know what to say next.

"I know Lord Kain… um… personally." He said slowly.

Guanji stopped blinking and stared incredulously. "Joo be jokin' right?"

"No, I'm serious." The elf did look serious, so maybe he was telling the truth.

"Ah. So… why'd joo say dat?"

"?"

"Couldn't joo say 'I be Lord Kain's friend' or someting?" Guanji looked puzzled.

"Well… no… not really. I'm not his friend." Felfe looked really depressed now.

"Hey, what's gettin joo down, mon? It be justa question." He slapped Felfe's shoulder in that semi-comforting way that men show their support for each other.

"I'm fine." Felfe smiled suddenly, looking very relieved. Then he frowned. "What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't." The mage looked puzzled. "I thought joo knew it."

"Why would I know your name?" Felfe looked just as puzzled as the troll.

"I be da Lord Lancelot's friend, mon. Kinda like joo and Kain." The troll explained. "An' da name's Guanji."

Felfe gaped. "You know Lord Lancelot!?"

"Hey mon, I tink we be even dere. I mean, joo know Kain, I know Lance." Guanji shrugged. "Kinda weird how we be da same, ja?"

"Yeah, that _is _weird." Felfe looked stunned. "I wonder how similar we are… hmmm…"

"What's yer favorite color, mon?" Guanji asked on an impulse.

"Umm… I'd have to say purple." Felfe blushed. People usually raised eyebrows when he admitted to liking such a… flamboyant color.

"Ah. Mine's blue." Guanji said.

Felfe sighed.

This would be the beginning of a great friendship.

* * *

**_But I love you! _**

**_... Oops. Mt._**


	8. Chapter 8

**Reviewers: **Thank you all for reviewing! Sorry I took a long time to write this. I got… distracted. Blame Burning Crusade, cosplay, and other great stuff like that. Oh yeah, and Naruto.

**Random Notes: **Yes, the title of this story references to a song of the same name, by Smash Mouth (great song, by the way). In fact, this whole story was inspired by that song. Also, for those of you wondering what the heck went on with Felfe and Kain, I apologize for the vagueness. Here's the deal: Kain put the handcuffs on Felfe with the intention of further explaining their use, and ended up kissing Felfe due to an 'inexplicable urge'. Felfe got angry, understandably. As far as you readers know, after that Kain felt guilty and left, thinking Felfe hated him, and Felfe (somehow) got out of the handcuffs. Then Felfe had an interesting dream involving Kain and handcuffs and got even angrier (and sadder, because he could tell Kain wasn't actually looking at him - rather, he seemed to be somewhere else). Now Felfe is extremely depressed, as is Kain. And that's the situation, folks.

**Disclaimer: **I'm pretty sure you know this, but… I don't own WoW. If I did, blood elves would be even gayer than they are now. Imagine that.

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Felfe and Guanji had immediately hit it off – understandeable seeing that they were very similar – and ended up spending the rest of the day talking about this and that. In fact, by that evening the two felt as if they had known each other for years.

So, of course, Felfe was completely surprised when he ran into Guanji near Southshore the next day. He had been heading out to get some training done – after finally recovering his equipment from the mailbox – when he spotted the troll mage.

"Hey!" He called out, trying to get the Guanji's attention since his back was to him.

"Huh?" Guanji turned, and an expression of surprise crossed his face, fading to a smile. "It's joo, mon! Nice ta see ya. What joo up to?"

"Oh, just some training." Felfe admitted awkwardly. "I might get a group for… um… that dungeon place later."

"Da dungeon? Joo mean dat shadow place, I tink." Guanji scratched his head in confusion. "Shadowland Creep… nah, dat's not it… mebbe Darkness Leap… or Creepy Teeth…?"

Apparently, Guanji was _very _similar to Felfe. But at least Felfe knew not to attempt to remember. Not that that made Felfe much better than his acquaintance – by the looks of it, the troll had far better gear than him. Not to mention that nice Emberstone Staff.

"Uh… yeah, that one." Felfe nodded, embarrassed. "Whatever it's called."

"So joo gonna get a group?" Guanji inquired curiously. "Dat be a good idea."

"W-well, I'm not sure yet. I kinda don't like groups very much…" Felfe smiled sheepishly. He really didn't want to explain all this, but it looked very much like he was going to end up doing just that.

"Well den, mon, how joo expect ta do dungeons?" Guanji grinned. "Joo gotta have friends."

Felfe frowned at that last part – the word 'friend' had always carried a certain sting to it. Not that he had horrible experiences or anything. He only had one problem with friends – having very few of them. Which, of course, was an understandeable position to be in when you happened to be an extremely feminine and shy night elf. Male.

"'Ey, what's wrong?" Guanji asked suddenly, sensing full well that Felfe was brooding about something. "Sometin' I said?"

"It's nothing." Felfe countered blankly.

"Really?"

"No."

"So what be it?"

"… I don't have any friends." Felfe winced at the pathetic tone of his voice.

"Ah. So dat's it." Guanji nodded sagely, ending up looking rather comical. His red mohawk bobbed in the air like a rooster's crest.

Felfe couldn't help but smile timidly. "Uh… yeah."

"Well, joo shouldn't be worried bout tings like dat." Guanji slapped him on the back, garnering an 'ow!' from the slender elf. "Besides…"

Guanji put a hand on Felfe's shoulder in a friendly way, his eyes full of warmth. "Joo got a friend right here, mon."

Felfe suddenly felt… overwhelmed – not in a bad way, but in a way that he didn't know what to say. His stomach was pleasantly warm on the inside, not at all like the emptiness he had felt lately. He didn't even try to talk, knowing that doing so now would only result in an incomplete sentence.

Guanji smiled, taking his friend's awed smile to be a positive reaction.

And that's when Felfe started to cry.

Oddly enough, the troll didn't seem shocked at all, just sitting the elf down on a patch of grass and taking a seat next to him, offering a handkerchief. Felfe took it gratefully, trying to wipe the joyful tears from his face, but only ending up sobbing more. He felt like he should say something, anything, so Guanji would realize he wasn't crying out of frustration or something like that.

"I'm s-s-so… h-happy." Felfe managed to choke out between convulsions.

"I know, mon. I know." Guanji said comfortingly. Unfortunately, this only sent his friend into more theatrical sobs. It took a few more minutes for him to calm down, with Guanji offering comforting words all the while.

Finally, Felfe cheered up enough to attempt a smile, and tried out his voice tentatively. "Thanks. For all that."

"No prob, mon." Guanji grinned as he stood up, helping his friend into a standing position next to him. Felfe shuffled his feet nervously, feeling a bit sheepish. After all, he didn't usually burst out into tears in front of other people. Alone, now that was a different matter…

He sniffled a few times, and then shook his head determinedly. He. Was. Not. Going. To. Cry. Not even if he had to laugh hysterically to prevent it. He was so determined, in fact, that he didn't notice Guanji's odd silence.

The troll coughed, and Felfe immediately snapped out of his thoughts to wonder what was the matter. "Huh?"

"Ya know, I don't do too well with dat, either." Guanji said quietly, shrugging in a casual way that made it obvious he was feeling awkward. "Friends, joo know."

Felfe noted his friend's expression with concern, though he didn't recognize the emotion hidden behind it. Thick walls were attempting to block the overflow, but they were looking shaky at the moment. All it would take to topple them would be a nicely placed sentence, or maybe even a pat on the shoulder. Felfe unknowingly opted for the former.

"Hey, let's be best friends, okay?" He suggested suddenly in a rush of breath. There was a slight gap of silence after his words, silence that nearly killed him inside because he didn't know what Guanji was going to say.

And that's when Guanji started to cry.

* * *

Hours later, after some more soul-searching talk and biscuits, Felfe and Guanji had reached a higher level of understanding between them. Although, there actually hadn't been any biscuits, since Felfe had forgotten to bring them. What a pity.

At the present time, Felfe had decided to head back to Southshore, and Guanji had offered to see him back. Felfe accepted the offer gratefully, being quite aware that all sorts of monsters preyed upon effeminate night-elves after the sun set. And the darkness was pretty scary, too.

They walked along the familiar, stony road, Guanji humming a pleasant tune or two. To any passerby, the two would have made quite the sight – Felfe, who was already strange enough, accompanied by a very friendly troll mage who was practically skipping along. Regardless, they were making good time, and were almost back to Southshore when they noticed something was wrong.

There were no NPC's patrolling. Not a one.

Felfe stopped, tugging on Guanji's arm to get him to halt as well. The troll glanced at him, and then stopped walking, asking him what was wrong.

"The guards aren't there." Felfe said hollowly, his voice not quite his own. He knew very well why the guards weren't there, but he didn't want to say it.

Guanji nodded, looking around. "Ja, mebbe da place got attacked again?"

Felfe bit his lip nervously, glancing around. "Yeah."

"What's got joo all worked up?" His friend inquired with actual concern. Felfe looked really scared, now, as if his mind was working through things at inhuman speed.

"It's him. I know he's there." Felfe whispered, his eyes widening. "In the town."

"Him?"

"Shhh." Felfe said sternly. "Look, let's just go and-"

"Why? We walked all da way here…" Guanji was starting to show his stubborn streak, which rivaled Felfe's own, and that meant things were gonna get tough.

"I can't go over there!" Felfe hissed. It was a strange tone of voice for him, but it was a desperate situation.

"Joo could just tell me why." Guanji sighed, hauling the elf with him towards the town. Felfe squirmed, getting a terrified look in his eyes, like some little rabbit knowing a wolf was waiting behind a rock.

"No! Lemme go!" Felfe exclaimed, close to hyperventilating. "I'll explain it, if you really need me to."

"Fine, mon. Start talkin'." Guanji set the elf down, and the two walked off the path into small clearing. Felfe's idea, since he mentioned 'getting off the road' would be a good idea.

"Kain's there." Felfe said in a rush of breath, his eyes still glancing around in panic. "I know he is. It's always like this."

"So? I thought joo were friends, or sometin' close to dat." Guanji looked puzzled. "You dun wanna see him?"

"No! I…" Felfe frowned. "I don't want to talk about it."

But the blush on his face informed Guanji that this was that kind of super-secret-incredibly-interesting secret that most likely would remain hidden forever… unless he asked. And then Felfe would probably spill the whole thing. Of course, Guanji was ready to put his friend's needs first, but… it was probably something really juicy. And wouldn't it help Felfe to 'get it all out of his system' now?

"Hey, mon, I won't laugh." The troll mage raised his eyebrows in a wordless nudge towards telling him everything.

"W-well, it all started when…"

And Felfe related all of the sorry tale to Guanji, who nodded, clapped, or donned a serious expression accordingly whenever it seemed necessary. When all was said, he had a great understanding of the situation, as well as quite a bit of pity for poor Felfe, who probably wouldn't even be able to sleep in the inn tonight due to not wanting to return to Southshore.

"Ya know, he might be gone by now." Guanji pointed out after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. "I could go check, ja?"

"No, I wouldn't make you do that for me." Felfe shook his head, ever stubborn when it came to being in debt to people. In debt to people… Gah, why did Kain invade his thoughts constantly?

Guanji sighed. Felfe stood, and frowned for a moment before speaking hesitantly. "I'll go, too. But we have to stay hidden."

"Sure, mon. I can do dat." Guanji gave him a thumbs up, nodding vigorously and causing his mohawk to bob up and down again.

And they headed into the forest, hoping to end up near the town's west side in order to get a good view of the situation.

* * *

**_I'll try to update more often. -cringe-_**


	9. Chapter 9

**Reviewers: **Here's a cookie! Wait, no, how about… two cookies?  
/cheer

**Random Notes: **I like updating. I've actually known what this chapter would be about for a while, but… I've been lazy. Forgive me.

**Disclaimer: **When 'muffins' is censored by the profanity filter, you'll know I own Warcraft. But don't get your hopes up.

**Another Note: **Before this, I've been saying that Kain and Lancelot are level 60. Sorry about that! I was forgetting the Burning Crusade expansion and everything. They're actually level 70, and wearing much better equipment than tier 2, or 3, or whatever I said they were in. I'll go back and edit all that later – this is just a fyi.

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

Felfe stealthed along beside Guanji, who was attempting his own version of the rogue skill and looking pretty ridiculous since he was a mage, and therefore couldn't effectively vanish… until level seventy, of course. The two crept through the forested area without any talk between them, getting closer to the town.

At last, they were behind the final line of trees that divided Southshore from the woods. Felfe kept his stealth, and settled for peeking around one of the trees. Guanji stayed a little farther back, knowing that his red mohawk would give him away if he moved closer.

Felfe's heart leapt painfully as he viewed the area before him. He sank lower, his knees going weak, but still clung to the tree, wishing desperately that he could just get back to the inn and not get involved in all this. Not that he was going to get involved, no!

There was a sizeable army of horde, all spread out in neat rows according to rank. There had to be at least fifty of them there, and they all looked quite well-equipped. A familiar blood-elf, all decked out in the usual battle gear, stood at the head of the group. Kain. Just thinking that name made Felfe want to run away, but he held his ground.

On the other side of Southshore, with their backs to the docks, was a similar army of alliance members, lead by a blonde-haired human man who was the very picture of the characteristic paladin. Could it be… Lancelot?

Guanji had risked moving forward, and had crouched behind a tree next to Felfe's. As he took in the sight, he gaped. "Hey, it be Lance!"

"That's him?"

"Ja. Definitely. And dat means… dat's Kain?" Guanji raised an eyebrow at Felfe. "He be… very… blood-elf-ish."

"Y-yeah, he is." Felfe stuttered, not quite keeping track of his thoughts, which were spiraling out of control.

Oddly enough, there was a sizeable gap between the two armies – a gap that almost seemed to form a path from the inn entrance to where Felfe and Guanji were hiding. So far, the armies hadn't starting attacking each other yet, and Kain and Lancelot seemed to be conversing from afar.

"Hey, mon… do ya see dat?" Guanji pointed out the 'path' to his companion, looking close to laughter. "I tink… dis couldn't be a better setup."

Felfe groaned. "I don't need to get back _that _badly. I think I'll sleep outside again."

"But it be da perfect chance!" Guanji cheered at him encouragingly. "Joo can talk ta Kain, ya?"

"W-why would I…" Felfe trailed off, thinking that sentence over. Talk to Kain? What would he say? Maybe he could apologize, or… He didn't really know what good it would do, though. Kain probably was looking for another toy by now…

But hadn't he convinced himself that that was a silly thought? Surely, Kain wasn't that bad, right? If he just had the chance to talk, maybe things could be resolved and the situation would gain some semblance of…

But he was rambling, and Guanji had started talking once again.

"-thought it might be good, ya?" The troll cast a sideways look at Felfe, eyeing him questioningly.

"Huh?" Felfe looked up, pulled from his thoughts.

Guanji nearly smirked, but such an expression looked more like a crooked grin on him. "Joo were tinkin' bout _Kain_…" He teased, wagging a finger.

Felfe blushed, looking back at where the black-haired elf still appeared to be talking to his enemy commander. "Yeah." He said quietly. No use denying it.

"So what we gonna do?" Guanji asked, casting a quick look at Lancelot. "I'd like ta talk ta Lance for a bit, if joo gonna talk wit Kain. Dat all right?"

Felfe nodded slowly. His stomach was telling him fretfully that he shouldn't do this, but he knew it had to be sooner or later. Might as well be sooner. "So… what do we do? Just walk out there?"

"We be gonna cause some good chaos down dere, mon." Guanji grinned cheekily, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Wait til dey see us. Hehe."

"Did you just giggle?" Felfe asked wonderingly, amazed that a male troll could pull off such a girlish noise so believably, and still have it seem natural.

"Ja." Guanji giggled again, sending Felfe into a quick bout of rather feminine laughter as well.

"Hehehehe." Felfe then clapped a hand over his mouth to stop the sounds, and coughed. "Well, I guess we should get going…"

Guanji nodded enthusiastically, and Felfe unstealthed, coming to stand beside him. The two exchanged looks – Guanji giving Felfe one of pity, and Felfe looking a little distressed. Then, they both walked out into the middle of the battleground, through the gap between the armies.

Their footsteps were the only sounds for a moment, and Felfe didn't dare look up. Just as the two of them reached the middle of the gap, a few paces from the inn entrance, they stopped. Felfe turned to face the horde army, still staring at the ground, and Guanji straightened up to grin at the alliance one.

The sound rushed back to them, but it wasn't much of a change. Apparently, Lancelot and Kain had stopped talking, probably due to the shock of seeing their 'friends' turn up at the same time, with each other.

An awkward silence reigned until Guanji, completely unabashed, gave a cheerful wave to Lancelot and the rest of the alliance group. "Hey, mon! How be ya?"

Felfe barely heard the faint reply of "Splendid. How are you?" over the beating of his heart, which drowned out all other noises.

The night-elf slowly raised his head, letting his eyes flow over the many boots of the horde army, and then higher, and higher, until he was staring right at Kain. And Kain was staring back at him. Their gazes connected for a moment, some strange telepathic power transferring complicated and confusing emotions from one to the other, then back. Felfe turned slightly so he wasn't looking Kain in the eyes, and the power was severed.

"Felfe." Kain said quietly, his voice calm but tinged with something that almost sounded like sadness.

Felfe willed himself not to tremble under the blood-elf's gaze, and returned the greeting in as level a tone as he could manage. "Kain."

The minute his voice reached the air, he had to stop from wincing. He sounded desperate, like he was trapped in the desert and someone was offering him a drop of water. How pathetic.

Kain's eyes held a curious light at this, as Felfe's eyes flickered back to his for a split second before darting away, once again settling on a point somewhere beyond his right shoulder.

He heard Guanji talking happily with Lancelot in the background, and wondered why he couldn't be like that with Kain. Why was his life so complicated?

He tried not to become caught up in his own thoughts, and remembered why he was here in the first place, talking to the man standing a few paces from him. He returned his eyes to Kain's, though the connection made him feel almost dizzy.

He opened his mouth and struggled for words unsuccessfully. _'Can we talk?' _No, that sounded so dramatic. _'Let's talk.' _Too angry. _'Why don't we talk for a bit?' _Too much like a psychologist. _'I want to talk to you.' _Like a school principal.

Luckily (or unluckily) Kain decided to speak, seeing Felfe's obvious struggle. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

He said it like he was remarking that the weather was lovely today, and how was that crop of tomatoes turning out? Pfft. Of course Kain had expected to see him – he knew that Felfe practically lived here, in Southshore. What was he trying to say?

"I wanted to talk… to you." Felfe said slowly, still looking into Kain's eyes and trying to look relatively calm. Of course, Kain had that look perfectly, which made it so much more unnerving.

"Now?" It was almost a whisper.

Felfe glanced around, and realized that the horde and alliance had been about to start a rather epic battle. Oh well. Serves Kain right, anyway. "Yes."

Kain only nodded, turning to an undead warrior standing behind him and giving a few commands. The guy looked pretty shocked, to say the least, but nevertheless nodded and saluted his commander.

Kain walked over to Felfe, and at last seemed to take in the picture of Guanji chatting amiably with Lancelot, as if over a cup of tea. "Is that Guanji?"

"You know him?" Felfe's eyebrows rose. He couldn't help it, but it felt like he was slipping back into his companionable attitude with Kain.

"I've heard of him. He's very similar to you." Kain glanced down at Felfe for a moment, examining the other elf's nervous expression. "How ever did you meet him?"

"Oh, I-" Felfe bit his lip, trying to remember. Kain's fervent gaze and rapt attention didn't help much. But at last he caught hold of the squirming memory. "He saved me from a… a…"

This was going to sound really stupid, but Felfe continued nevertheless. "From a dwarf who was going to run me over with his ram."

He glanced up at Kain, watching as the blood-elf raised an elegant eyebrow. Then the familiar smirk returned. "I should have expected it would be something like that."

Felfe colored somewhat angrily, setting his eyes back on his friend and the paladin, ignoring amused chuckles from Kain. "I thought we were going to talk."

"This isn't talking?" Kain inquired rather annoyingly. Felfe scowled.

And that's when they realized that the hushed silence of the horde behind them was getting suspicious. They both turned slowly to witness the forty-nine horde members all sitting down, eyes on the two of them. Some of them were eating popcorn, and still others seemed to be taking notes hurriedly.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kain asked with a sigh.

His army quickly assembled themselves once again, back into battle position, and put away their snacks. No one answered Kain's question, but he seemed satisfied. Felfe was now the color of a red berry, muttering things to himself about lack of privacy.

"We should talk elsewhere." Kain said softly, so that only Felfe could hear. The thought of being alone with Kain was enough to make Felfe sprint into the inn and lock his room door, but he did realize that it made sense to get away from the horde army. He only wished Guanji could come with him. But that would only make this next talk all the more humiliating, so maybe this was the best way.

He nodded, and Kain walked back down the path between the armies that Felfe and Guanji had came from, coming to stop near the trees. Felfe followed, and the two of them returned to the nearby pond where they had talked a few times in the past.

* * *

Guanji immediately stopped talking to Lancelot mid-sentence, grinning and gesturing towards the two elves currently exiting Southshore. "Time ta do some sneakin', mon."

Lancelot knew very well what his friend meant by this, as they had just spent the last few minutes discussing such a plan. Guanji had explained, after greeting him, that Felfe needed an eye kept on him at all times, and if the night-elf got up the nerve to talk to Kain alone, he would need some support. Or, at least, that was how Guanji had worded it. It was clear, though, that the troll mainly wanted to find out what Felfe was going to say.

"Jolly good. Let's get going, then." The paladin allowed himself a somewhat happy expression, though he was going to have to leave his army waiting for a while. He made some hurried instructions to the lot of them, and, satisfied, followed Guanji out into the forest.

Not too long after they had gotten a fairly decent hiding spot behind some bushes, Felfe and Kain stopped walking, and sat down next to a picturesque lake. A minute passed, and neither of them said anything.

"Joo can do it, mon!" Guanji whispered, though he knew Felfe wouldn't hear him.

Lancelot resisted the urge to sigh, as it was uncharacteristic of a paladin, and instead eyed the scene before them intently, willing something dramatic to happen.

* * *

Apparently Lancelot's trick had worked, since Felfe just then got up his nerve to begin the conversation. He fingered his shiny, silvery white hair out of habit, and coughed quietly. Kain glanced over at him from where he was seated, a few feet away. Comfortable enough distance, at least.

Felfe licked his lips, trying not to look like he was doing just that, and mustered his courage. "So… about that… day…"

"I'm sorry." Kain muttered, cutting off Felfe from saying any more.

Felfe, surprised, saw that the other elf looked entirely remorseful. Was that really how he felt? After all that? Of course, that dream hadn't been Kain's fault – a fact that he had been forgetting lately.

"I-I forgive you." Felfe stuttered, wishing he wasn't so spineless. "But…"

Kain looked up, eyes locking with Felfe's again. "Yes?"

"What was that all about, anyway?" Felfe practically squeaked, his voice losing its nerve before he did.

Kain's pained silence was completely unexpected.

Felfe stared, eyes widening, as the normally suave blood-elf commander stared into the water as if his dog had just died. And he didn't even have a dog.

"I-it's okay, if you don't wanna-"

"It was a long time ago." Kain interrupted smoothly, not taking his eyes off the water. "But I still can't forget."

Felfe was now in a state of confusion, slight shock, and a bit of curiosity. What was Kain talking about? "What are you talking about?"

"You aren't my first love, Felfe." Kain said quietly. Felfe wouldn't have caught the added "You're the second, actually." if he wasn't an elf, therefore having unnaturally good hearing.

While he blushed at Kain actually admitting that in a roundabout way, his mind tried to fit itself around the sentence. Kain was with someone else? Well, that wasn't surprising. What with his reputation and experience, he must have been quite a bit older than Felfe. And considering that they were comparing ages in elf years, that meant Kain had been around _much_ longer than he. Of course, five-hundred years difference was nothing in elf marriages – that was barely enough for a respectable match, in his mother's view.

But now, of course, was not the time. Felfe was far too curious as to Kain's apparently tragic story. After all, his… was he a friend? No… his… _acquaintance_… but that was cold. Anyway, _the other elf _was still gazing sadly into the lake, as if his dead dog had been put to rest in it or something. Odd sort of burial, really. Although there was this story about a human girl who…

No! Not the time. Felfe decided to ask a question to keep Kain's story going. "Who?"

It was a particularly short and cliché question, but at least it was a question. Kain looked up for a moment, tearing his eyes from the lake long enough to answer. "Kael'thas. Kael'thas Sunstrider."

Felfe promptly fell over into the lake, causing a loud splash. He surfaced and dragged himself back onto the shore, gasping for breath. "Not… not _the Kael'thas Sunstrider!?_"

"The very same." Kain sighed. He hadn't moved to help Felfe when the other elf fell into the lake – he had to be very depressed to not have done so. Felfe tried to act more comfortingly.

"Wow… you're old."

Muffins! That wasn't supposed to slip out! Felfe cringed at his own words.

Kain, to his credit, only gave a weak chuckle, not seeming too offended. "I suppose you could say that."

Felfe, squeezing the water from his long hair, attempted to keep the conversation going. "So… did he… like you back?"

"Yes." Came Kain's sharp reply. Felfe winced. A nasty emotion filled him for a moment, making his insides writhe. Why should he feel bad that Kain had loved someone? He wasn't _jealous_, that was ridiculous.

"What happened?" Felfe asked bluntly. After all, he might as well get to the heart of it quickly, rather than beating around the bush. Obviously, something had happened to warrant Kain's unusual emotionalness around the whole issue.

"He left. For Outland." The coldness of those words was almost biting.

"Oh." Felfe replied in a near whisper. "I see."

Kain remained motionless, eyeing the still water of the pond with disgust. He must have hated that dog.

Felfe's curiosity then got the better of him, and took control of his mouth without permission. "Why didn't you go with him?"

"I knew it was wrong." Kain answered calmly. "He thought he could save the rest of the blood-elves, but he didn't understand that his methods were corrupt. I couldn't… resign myself to working for evil like that… Illidan."

Felfe was struck by the powerful contempt put into that last word. Yes, Illidan was evil, but most people didn't outright hate him like that. "Illidan?"

Yes, one-word questions usually worked best in a situation like this, Felfe had reasoned. And it appeared he was correct. Kain's eyes narrowed, and he gave the water a vicious scowl, nearly a snarl. "He fell for him."

Though this was a rather vague sentence, Felfe knew that 'he' in this case meant 'Kael'thas' and… the 'him'… was… Illidan? That made a lot of sense, then. It was only natural that Kain would-

"I thought… that that was it for me." Kain said suddenly, with a whole new range of emotion. Felfe looked over at him cautiously, and saw what looked like a tear running down the blood-elf's cheek. Impossible!

Felfe inched closer to Kain, and dug out a lacy handkerchief. He offered it carefully to the other elf, and was amazed to see Kain take it and wipe his wipe his face rather angrily. As soon as he had hidden all remains of that single tear, he seemed to freeze up, no more tears making their way out of his eyes.

He was like stone. And stone couldn't cry, could it?

Felfe marveled at the forcefulness with which Kain seemed to be holding his emotions in check. But wasn't it better just to let it all out? Maybe a well-placed question would do nicely…

"After all that, he just let go. Like it never meant anything. And…"

It appeared there was no need for Felfe's intervention. Kain was doing just fine with his story by himself.

"And now," Kain continued in a steely voice. "I have to see him every time we raid Tempest Keep."

Felfe felt a growing compassion for his companion, seeing as his situation was actually much worse than Felfe's had been. I mean, Felfe's own life paled in comparison to the epic drama that was Kain's.

"Every. Single. Time." Kain still wasn't crying, but he looked close to it. "He always taunts me, giving me that look like… And then we kill him, and I have to watch him die knowing that I'm going to have to do it again next time-"

"_Kain_." Felfe put a lot of stress on the word, trying to snap the poor elf out of his downward spiral. Kain looked back at him, with a confused expression like he hadn't realized he was actually talking _to _someone. Unfortunately, Felfe didn't have anything incredibly comforting, original, or cliché to say, so he settled for moving closer to the black-haired man, and giving him a comforting pat on the shoulder. Kain flinched.

Bringing Felfe, unfortunately, back to the event that started it all. Kain. And the handcuffs. "So that was it… you used to do t-that with him, didn't you?"

He hated how his voice waved at 'that' because it betrayed how much _that _scared him. Kain, though, didn't seem to notice, and nodded. A sigh followed that, and finally Kain seemed to come back to the real world, locking eyes with Felfe at last.

"Yes, I didn't mean to do that. It's just that you… looked like him, like that. Somewhat." This would have been a more effective explanation if he hadn't muttered it so quietly that even Felfe couldn't hear the last few words. But at least it made a little more sense now.

He realized suddenly that this was the only reason he had been avoiding Kain, and it wasn't even a very good one. After all, that stupid dream was his own fault, so…

"It's all right." Felfe said, surprising himself. "I don't blame you."

Kain looked so relieved that Felfe couldn't have taken those words back even if he had wanted to. "Thank you."

And then Felfe remembered what he had wanted to say, what he had planned to say, before they entered this lengthy conversation. But how could he say that, now, after finally resolving things? Well, it wasn't exactly something bad… it was the only thing he could do. I mean, Kain might get the wrong idea, otherwise.

He struggled with his conscience, and his mind (which was strangely absent) before speaking at last, the words he had thought over in his head many times. "Kain… I was thinking, and…"

Kain, his expression changing to one of rapt attention, turned quickly to observe the night-elf's nervous composure, his trembling form, and… it couldn't be. After all this, weren't they all right now?

Felfe, though, knew that these words had to be said sooner rather than later, and he forced them through his mouth, unaware that he was essentially sending burning hot coals at Kain. "… Could we just be… friends… for a while?"

He was looking at the ground, and so he didn't see Kain's face undergo a rapid swirl of emotions – first shock, then sadness, then anger, and then a whole lot of things in between. At last, he settled on resignment, and when Felfe looked up it appeared that the other elf had taken things quite well.

"It's just that-" Felfe began to explain, but his words were cut off by Kain's.

"I understand. I… don't mind."

And there was an awkward silence in which neither of them knew what to say, until finally there came a rather suspicious sound from the bushes. Both of them turned, facing the direction the sounds were coming from.

A couple of bushes were writhing uncontrollably, and then… the bushes spoke. Or yelled, however you care to see it.

"What are you doing!?" The leafy green foliage shrieked. "You made up with him, and now you've ruined it!"

Felfe froze, mouth hanging open. Kain resisted the urge to glance at Felfe, wondering just what that bush thought its right was to be bursting in on private affairs like that. But the bush wasn't finished yet.

"Just hurry up and kiss him, and forget about that ridiculous deal thing you made!"

Felfe blushed a very dark red, his eyes widening. "W-what?"

"Don't talk to it." Kain muttered to him, hoping the bush wouldn't hear. "Maybe we should just leave…"

And then the 'bush' blew its cover. Guanji stood up, holding a very indignant Lancelot. Felfe gaped again, completely shocked. Kain gave a start, and stepped back.

"Guanji!?"

"Lancelot!?"

The two, now discovered, paled. Guanji turned his attention swiftly back to his friend. "I told joo, mon! I told joo to just keep quiet, but no! Joo just had ta yell at 'em!"

Felfe's mouth opened and shut for a moment. "W-what? That was… Lancelot?"

Lancelot muttered mutinously, but then nodded. Guanji had at last let him down, and the paladin took the chance to consciously smooth his... armor... as if that would make a difference to his disheveled appearance.

Kain smirked his characteristic blood-elf smirk. "What an interesting way to meet up with my longtime rival…"

Lancelot huffed. "It's only been an hour."

Kain ignored him, and turned to Felfe. "Let's go."

"Where?" Felfe asked blankly, closing his mouth at last.

"Southshore, of course."

* * *

**_NOTE: This is the end of this particular fanfiction, but I will continue this story, from where this chapter leaves off, as a new story. It will be called 'Just Friends.' Keep an eye out for it, folks! I'll try to hurry up and get the first chapter going._**


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